Antibiotics May Double The Risk Of Juvenile Arthritis

“This risk was greatest within a year of receiving antibiotics and increased with the number of antibiotic courses children were prescribed”, said study lead author Dr. Daniel Horton, a research fellow with the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences Child Health Institute of New Jersey.

Even if antibiotic use is a trigger for the condition, with an ailing microbiome somehow being the domino that starts a cascading autoimmune response, it may only be part of the story.

However, researchers have made it a point to mention that similar side effects were not seen in antifungal or antiviral drugs, and the fact that only 1 in 1,000 children under the use of antibiotics develop juvenile arthritis proves that they are not the only contributing factor.

A brand new study warns that children who are prescribed antibiotics have at least double the risk for developing juvenile arthritis as children who are not prescribed these drugs.

Genetics accounts for only about one quarter of children developing arthritis, and that means environmental triggers may also play an important role in the onset of disease. “Antibiotics are one of the better known disruptors of human microbial communities”, explained lead author Daniel Horton, a postdoctoral research fellow working in the Department of Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and biomedical informatics master’s degree candidate in the Rutgers School of Health Related Professions.

Arthritis refers to an inflammation of the joints that causes pain and immobility.

Researchers began the study in 2014 because of previous studies showing that antibiotics could predispose children to develop other chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. This database contains high quality health records of more than 11 million people in the United Kingdom.

The study found that children and teens prescribed antibiotics had about twice the risk of developing juvenile arthritis compared to children the same age who were not prescribed the drugs. This association was particularly strong among children who were treated with antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection. July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, which serves to increase awareness, encourage research, and ultimately find a cure for the group of autoimmune and inflammatory conditions that affect children under the age of 16.

“This is an extremely important clue about the etiology of this serious and potentially crippling disease”, states senior author Brian Strom.

Viral infections have been suggested as triggers for juvenile arthritis, but multiple studies argue against this hypothesis.

Dr. Horton explains that patients with juvenile arthritis are more susceptible to serious infections than others as their immune system is less able to defend the body against them. Under this hypothesis, antibiotics would be a marker for abnormal immunity rather than a direct cause of arthritis. “This very well done and elegant study does add to our growing understanding that there is some risk with antibiotics, and that they do more than just treat the bacteria they are meant to treat”, said Kronman, who wasn’t involved in the study.