Sugar-rich foods exacerbate antibiotic-induced microbiome disruption

Diet shapes the composition of the gut microbiota1; however, the specific effects of distinct food groups on microbiome dynamics are unclear, particularly in circumstances of extreme perturbation. Here we evaluated the relationship between diet and intestinal microbiome dynamics by precisely tracking 9,419 meals consumed by 173 patients who were hospitalized for haematopoietic cell transplantation and analysing subsequent microbiome changes. Bayesian inference applied to data from 158 patients with paired longitudinal microbiome samples revealed that the intake of sweets and sugars during antibiotic exposure predicted exacerbated microbial dysbiosis, manifesting as lowered α-diversity and greater expansion of the pathobiont Enterococcus. Experiments in mice also showed that sucrose supplementation increased and prolonged antibiotic-induced Enterococcus expansion. These data suggest that avoiding a diet rich in simple sugars during antibiotic treatment may mitigate microbiota disruption. Further studies in independent cohorts will offer opportunities to generalize these findings and evaluate microbiota-sparing interventions. Avoiding a diet rich in simple sugars during treatment with antibiotics may mitigate microbiota disruption.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature
Published
2026-09-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11077-3
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Gut microbiota and health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.41
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
article

Sugar-rich foods exacerbate antibiotic-induced microbiome disruption

Alexis Sullivan, Marcel R.M. van den Brink, Marissa Lubin Buchan, Jonas Schlüter et al.
1 citations
Nature
Gut microbiota and health
2.41
article

Sugar-rich foods exacerbate antibiotic-induced microbiome disruption

Alexis Sullivan, Marcel R.M. van den Brink, Marissa Lubin Buchan, Jonas Schlüter, Annelie G. Clurman, Abigail J. Johnson, Kenton Wu, Antonio L. C. Gomes, Daniel G. Brereton, Brianna Gipson, Sukanya Sahu, Eiko Hayase, Robert R. Jenq, Oriana Miltiadous, Jonathan U. Peled, Madhumitha Rangesa, Corrado Zuanelli Brambilla, William Jogia, Nicholas R. Waters, Peter A. Adintori, Paul A. Giardina, Sandeep S. Raj, Zoe Pierce, Kate Ann Markey, Ana Gradíssimo, Annamaria Ballweg, Sergio A. Giralt, Fanny Matheis, Tatanisha Peets, Miguel‐Angel Perales, Dan Knights, Luigi A. Amoretti, Tyler Funnell, John B. Slingerland, Mirae Baichoo, Teng Fei, Caichen Duan, Chenzhen Zhang, Abrielle Swartz, Natalie Smith, Anqi Dai, Adam Warren, Justin Neuberger, Marina Burgos da Silva
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Diet shapes the composition of the gut microbiota1; however, the specific effects of distinct food groups on microbiome dynamics are unclear, particularly in circumstances of extreme perturbation. Here we evaluated the relationship between diet and intestinal microbiome dynamics by precisely tracking 9,419 meals consumed by 173 patients who were hospitalized for haematopoietic cell transplantation and analysing subsequent microbiome changes. Bayesian inference applied to data from 158 patients with paired longitudinal microbiome samples revealed that the intake of sweets and sugars during antibiotic exposure predicted exacerbated microbial dysbiosis, manifesting as lowered α-diversity and greater expansion of the pathobiont Enterococcus. Experiments in mice also showed that sucrose supplementation increased and prolonged antibiotic-induced Enterococcus expansion. These data suggest that avoiding a diet rich in simple sugars during antibiotic treatment may mitigate microbiota disruption. Further studies in independent cohorts will offer opportunities to generalize these findings and evaluate microbiota-sparing interventions. Avoiding a diet rich in simple sugars during treatment with antibiotics may mitigate microbiota disruption.

Nature
City Of Hope National Medical Center (US), University of Minnesota (US), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US), University of Washington (US), NYU Langone Health (US), Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US), Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese (IT), Riddet Institute (NZ), Weill Cornell Medicine (US), NYU Langone’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, Massey University (NZ), New York University (US)
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Gut microbiota and health
2.41
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.