Antibiotic Resistance Increased by Common Antidepressants

Bottles of antidepressant pills, (L-R) Wellbutrin, Paxil, Lexapro, Effexor, Zoloft and Fluoxetine, photographed in Miami, Fla., on March 23, 2004. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked makers of popular antidepressants to add or strengthen suicide-related warnings on their labels as well as the possibility of worsening depression. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Antibiotics are a well-known cause of antibiotic resistance, but they aren’t the only common drug that’s contributing to this global crisis, as demonstrated in a recent University of Queensland (UQ) study.

In a study led by Prof. Jianhua Guo from the UQs Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, researchers found that antidepressants also increased antibiotic resistance.