Early life exposure to antibiotics and mental health disorders later in life

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While mental illness affects 20% of Canadians of all ages, youth and children are at greater risk with a total number of staggering 3.2 million children at risk of developing depression. Seventy percent of mental health problems have their onset during childhood or adolescence. According to the Manitoba Center for Health Policy (MCHP), 11 % of children in Manitoba is prescribed at least one antidepressant over the course of a year. The rate of anxiolytic, antipsychotic and psychostimulant prescriptions in Manitoba’s children has been increasing over the last decades, and the prevalence of pervasive development disorders doubled during a ten-year study period. While a complex interplay of genetic, biological, personality and environmental factors have been identified for the etiology, the role of antibiotics is unknown. Animal models have demonstrated significant association between exposure to antibiotics and behavioral changes in mice. To date, no human study has been conducted to assess this association. To bridge the gap in the literature, this study is aimed to provide insight into the role of antibiotics in the development of a wide range of mental health/ psychiatric disorders including attention deficiet hyperactivity disorder , autism spectrum disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia, developmental disorders, suicidal attempts, substance use disorders and conduct disorders. Proving a clear association between the use of antibiotics in pregnant women and their offspring, and development of psychological and behavioral disorders later in life will send a paradigm-shifting message to mothers and physicians to be cautious about prescribing and using antibiotics in pregnancy and early childhood.

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