// NATURE NEWS — SPAZIO & SCIENZA

Sugar amplifies antibiotic disruption of gut microbes

Published: 09/30/2026, 12:00 AM

Mengxi Du is in the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA, and in the Department of Epidemiology and the Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Andrew T. Chan is in the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA; in the Division of Gastroenterology and the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Antibiotics are often crucial therapies, but their use comes at the expense of a person’s gut microbial community. Writing in Nature, Dai et al.1 report that diet can influence the severity of such microbial disturbance. Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Dai, A. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11077-3 (2026). Peled, J. U. et al. N. Engl. J. Med. 382, 822–834 (2020).