A discussion with Guts UK (the charity) to inform about interesting research looking at the gut microbiome (the bacteria in our gut) and medicines. This led to an artilce written by Dr Hamid Merchant published by Gut UK that talks about how microbes found in our gut can affect the ability of how medicines work, sometimes even making them less effective in some than others.
Our gut microbiota contains trillions of microorganisms, including at least 1000 different species of known bacteria with more than 3 million genes. The majority of drugs are still taken orally and we know that drug response varies significantly between individuals. We also see differences in the type and the magnitude of adverse effects that people observe from the same medication. This can be attributed to the likely interaction of drugs with microbiota during their voyage through the gut.
Gut bacerial and medicines