Offspring weakens when parents are given antibiotics

Date:
April 25, 2022
Source:
University of Southern Denmark
Summary:
New study shows the immune system of zebrafish weakens if one
parent has been exposed to antibiotics. Antibiotics can have
unwanted effects for several generations, researchers discover.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Antibiotics have once proclaimed the salvation of the world. Today,
researchers fear that antibiotics could become a threat to public health
and the natural environment.


========================================================================== Since its invention, we have used antibiotics in such large doses and
so often that more and more of us become resistant, and thus otherwise
common and harmless infections can become life-threatening for us.

In recent years, research has also shown that just being exposed to
antibiotics can have a negative effect; both on the organism being
exposed and on the offspring of the organism.

Always in our water And we are many, both humans and animals, who are
exposed to antibiotics.

Antibiotics are often found in wastewater, groundwater, surface water, and
even bottled water and are thus difficult not to come into contact with.

"The half-life of antibiotics is quite short -- it is out of the water
again after hours or days -- but since large amounts are continuously
released into our water, we consider antibiotics as pseudo persistent
water pollution," says Elvis Genbo Xu, who is an expert in ecotoxicology
and assistant professor at the Department of Biology, University of
Southern Denmark.

He is the co-corresponding author of a new study on the undesirable
effects of antibiotics, published in Environmental Science & Technology
The background for the study is that in recent years, researchers
have discovered that antibiotics can have a detrimental effect on the descendants of the individuals exposed to the drugs.

"In this study, we examined the offspring of zebrafish that were exposed
to CTC, which is a common antibiotic. The CTC concentrations of the
experiment corresponded to the concentrations that wild organisms may
encounter in nature.

We can see that the young generations, ie the offspring, are less
effective at fighting bacteria and in general have a weaker immune system
than the parent generation," explains Elvis Genbo Xu.

More specifically, the study shows that the first generation of zebrafish,
born to CTC-exposed parents, had weakened antibacterial defenses and
that the number of their immune cells decreased. The latter also applied
to the third generation. When an organism's immune system is weakened,
the organism becomes less able to fight viruses and bacteria and thus
more prone to diseases.

Previous research has also shown that males among so-called false
scorpions (Cordylochernes scorpioides) have poorer sperm quality when
their fathers have been exposed to the antibiotic tetracycline: the
number of viable sperm cells fell by 25 percent.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Southern_Denmark. Original written by Birgitte
Svennevig. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Wenhui Qiu, Bei Chen, Liang Tang, Chunmiao Zheng, Bentuo Xu,
Zhiyu Liu,
Jason T. Magnuson, Shuwen Zhang, Daniel Schlenk, Elvis Genbo Xu,
Baoshan Xing. Antibiotic Chlortetracycline Causes Transgenerational
Immunosuppression via NF-kB. Environmental Science & Technology,
2022; 56 (7): 4251 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c07343 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425104848.htm

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