New Delhi: Use of common painkillers such as ibuprofen and paracetamol with an antibiotic could increase antibiotic resistance by amplifying bacteria’s growth into highly resistant organisms, indicating the role of non-antibiotics in driving the public health threat, according to a new study has found.
The study’s findings, published in the journal ‘npj antimicrobials and resistance’, show that antibiotic resistance is more complex than previously thought and that “it’s not just about antibiotics anymore,” said Rietie Venter, lead researcher and associate professor of clinical and health sciences, University of South Australia.
Antibiotic resistance — which a bacterium develops over time after repeated exposure to antibiotics designed to kill them — is estimated to claim lives of 39 million people around the world by 2050, according to a 2024 study published in The Lancet journal.
“In this study, we looked at the effect of non-antibiotic medicines and ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic which is used to treat common skin, gut or urinary tract infections,” Venter added.
Bacteria exposed to ciprofloxacin — alongside ibuprofen and paracetamol — were found to develop more genetic mutations, compared with when exposed to the antibiotic alone, helping the microbes grow faster and evolving into highly resistant organisms.
The authors “showed that ibuprofen and acetaminophen significantly increased mutation frequency and conferred high-level ciprofloxacin resistance (in Escherichia coli bacteria).”
The lead researcher said, “Worryingly, the bacteria were not only resistant to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, but increased resistance was also observed to multiple other antibiotics from different classes.”
Along with ibuprofen and paracetamol, metformin (treats high sugar in diabetes) and atorvastatin (high cholesterol) were among the nine commonly used medications assessed.
“We also uncovered the genetic mechanisms behind this resistance, with ibuprofen and paracetamol both activating the bacteria’s defences to expel antibiotics and render them less effective,” Venter said.
Revealing how common non-antibiotics are contributing to antibiotic resistance, the study “is a clear reminder that we need to carefully consider the risks of using multiple medications,” he added.
“This doesn’t mean we should stop using these medications, but we do need to be more mindful about how they interact with antibiotics — and that includes looking beyond just two-drug combinations,” the lead researcher said.
Future studies could look into how drugs interact among people on long-term treatment regimens to understand how common medicines may impact antibiotic effectiveness, the authors said.
