Fluoroquinolones are a group of antibiotics that are prescribed for various bacterial infections - from bacterial sinusitis to urinary tract infections. The admission of these antibacterial drugs is associated with severe side effects, so care should be taken when using them. Recent data now confirm that fluoroquinolones are capable of increasing the risk of aortic disease, in particular, the aortic aneurysm and its stratification. Both these conditions can be life threatening. The results of the study are published in the journal BMJ.

In the study, scientists from the Karolinska Institutet, Lund University, Sweden, and the Danish State Institute of Serums (Statens Serum Institut) compared the risk of developing aortic disease in more than 360,000. subjects who received fluoroquinolones (in 78% of cases of ciprofloxacin), with an equal number of participants who received an antibiotic from another group - amoxicillin.

Researchers report that compared with the group of participants taking amoxicillin, the risk of developing aortic aneurysm / aortic dissection increased by 66% in fluoroquinolones,. During the 60-day high-risk period, the incidence of aneurysm / dissection of the aorta was 1.2 per 1000 people, among those who took fluoroquinolones and 0.7 per 1000 people among those taking amoxicillin.

According to scientists, the fundamental mechanism of the relationship between the use of fluoroquinolones and aortic disease may be that these antibiotics activate the functions of certain enzymes known as matrix metalloproteinases that can damage the integrity of internal tissues.

This mechanism is also thought to be responsible for another side effect of this group of antibiotics - rupture of tendons.

Researchers emphasize the need for further research in this area to determine whether specific types of fluoroquinolone antibiotic are more dangerous to vascular health than others. It is also necessary to pay attention to the study of the mechanisms by which the vascular damage is effected within the framework of the identified association.

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