“Growth-Promoting Effect” of Antibiotic Use Could Explain the Global Obesity Pandemic: A European Survey

Clinical observations indicated a higher rate of obesity among children who received antibiotics at early ages. Experimental studies supported the role of the modified gut microbiome in the development of obesity as well. For identifying antibiotic classes that might promote or inhibit obesity-related dysbiosis, a database of the average yearly antibiotic consumption (2008–2018) has been developed using the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) yearly reports of antibiotic consumption in the community for the major antibiotic classes in 30 European countries, which were compared to the childhood and adult obesity prevalence featured in the Obesity Atlas. Pearson’s chi-square test was applied to estimate positive/negative correlations between antibiotic consumption and obesity. One-way ANOVA has been applied to test the differences in antibiotic consumption between groups, and logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the odds ratios (OR) of antibiotic consumption for obesity. Strong, positive associations were estimated between childhood obesity and the total consumption of systemic antibiotics, broad-spectrum, beta-lactamase-resistant penicillin, cephalosporin, and quinolone, and a negative correlation was found with the consumption of tetracycline, broad-spectrum, beta-lactamase-sensitive penicillin, and narrow-spectrum, beta-lactamase-sensitive penicillin. Our observation indicated that the “growth-promoting effect” of the consumption of certain antibiotic classes might be identified as a possible etiology in the development of obesity and might be the explanation for the obesity “pandemic”

Antibiotic Consumption Patterns in European Countries Are Associated with the Prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease; the Possible Augmenting Role of the Narrow-Spectrum Penicillin

Parkinson’s disease: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting at least 0.3% of the worldwide population and over 3% of those over 80 years old. According to recent research (2018), in 2016, 6.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 5.0–7.3) individuals had Parkinson’s disease globally, compared with 2.5 million (2.0–3.0) in 1990. The pandemic-like spreading of PD is considered a slow-moving disaster. Most recent studies indicated the possible role of an altered microbiome, dysbiosis, in the development of PD, which occurs long before the clinical diagnosis of PD. Antibiotics are considered as major disruptors of the intestinal flora and we have hypothesized that, as different classes of antibiotics might induce different dysbiosis, certain classes of antibiotics could trigger the PD-related dysbiosis as well. Comparative analyses were performed between the average yearly antibiotic consumption of 30 European countries (1997–2016) and the PD prevalence database (estimated for 2016). We divided the time frame of antibiotic consumption of 1997–2016 into four subsections to estimate the possible time lapse between antibiotic exposure and the prevalence, prevalence change, and PD-related death rates estimated for 2016. Our results indicated that countries with high consumption of narrow-spectrum penicillin experienced a higher increase in PD prevalence than the others. Countries reporting a decline in PD from 1990 to 2016 demonstrated a reduction in the consumption of narrow-spectrum penicillin in this period

Comparison of VividTrac®, Airtraq®, King Vision®, Macintosh Laryngoscope and a Custom-Made Videolaryngoscope for difficult and normal airways in mannequins by novices

Abstract Background Direct laryngoscopy remains the gold standard for endotracheal intubation and is preferred by experienced operators. However, an increasing number of reports currently support videolaryngoscopy, particularly for novice users. The widespread use of videolaryngoscopy may be limited due to financial limitations, especially in low-income countries. Therefore, affordable single-use scopes are now becoming increasingly popular. We sought to compare these new scopes with direct laryngoscopes and the previously tested videolaryngoscopes in mannequins by novices. Methods Fifty medical students were recruited to serve as novice users. Following brief, standardized training, students were asked to execute endotracheal intubation with each of the devices, including the Airtraq®, a custom-made videolaryngoscope, the King Vision®, the Macintosh laryngoscope and the VividTrac®, on an airway trainer (Laerdal Airway Management Trainer®) in normal and difficult airway scenarios. We evaluated the time to and the proportion of successful intubation, the best view of the glottis, esophageal intubation, dental trauma and user satisfaction. Results We observed no differences in esophageal intubation. However, intubation-related times, the view of the glottis and operator satisfaction were significantly better throughout the study with the commercial videolaryngoscopes. In comparison, the custom-made videolaryngoscope performance proved to be similar to that of the Macintosh laryngoscope. The VividTrac® performance was similar (P > 0.05) or significantly better than that of the King Vision® in both scenarios. Conclusions Based upon our results, the Airtraq®, King Vision® and VividTrac® were superior to the Macintosh laryngscope in both normal and difficult airway scencarios for novice users. In particular, our study is the first to report that the VividTrac® shows promise for further clinical evaluation