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Antibiotics that are useful in fighting infection can make a person prone to infection, says a recent study. The researchers noted that antibiotics may result in diarrhea and infection by making the microbes in the gut to breathe.

According to the study published in journal Cell Host Microbe, the antibiotics disturb oxygen and fiber processing levels in the gut and thereby benefit the pathogens. The study findings offer a new perspective on the effect of antibiotics in the body which wasn't dealt by far.

From the research conducted in mice, it was observed that antibiotics destroy good bacteria in the gut. The good bacteria in the gut are essential for certain body functions and without which some processes might not be completed. But researchers have also noted that the process by which antibiotics destroy the beneficial bacteria is not clearly understood.

"The process begins with antibiotics depleting "good" bacteria in the gut, including those that break down fiber from vegetables to create butyrate, an essential organic acid that cells lining the large intestine need as an energy source to absorb water, said lead researcher Andreas Baumler, professor at University of California Davis Health System in the US," noted NDTV.

The oxygen-consuming ability of the cells of the large intestine is reduced as the fiber metabolizing activity in the gut declines. As a result, the oxygen levels in the gut rising drastically and such an increase paves the way for oxygen dependent microorganism in the gut to grow and flourish.

Organisms like Salmonella grow abundantly in the gut as a result of alternations in the microenvironment. The growth of Salmonella in the gut may result in fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A person may experience such symptoms in 12-72 hours after the onset of infection.

"Unlike Clostridia and other beneficial microbes in the gut - which grow anaerobically, or in the complete absence of oxygen - Salmonella flourished in the newly created oxygen-rich micro environment after antibiotic treatment," Baumler said, according to The Indian Express. "In essence, antibiotics enabled pathogens in the gut to breathe," Baumler noted.