A new study conducted by the University of Edinburgh has revealed a notable association between the use of a widely prescribed antibiotic for treating acne in adolescents and a lower likelihood of developing schizophrenia in adulthood.
اضافة اعلان
According to the researchers, teenagers who sought mental health services and took doxycycline were less likely to develop schizophrenia later compared to those who received other types of antibiotics.
While the findings do not establish a direct causal relationship, researchers suggest that the drug’s effects on inflammation, the immune system, and cell death may help prevent the neurological changes associated with the disorder, according to the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness affecting around 23 million people worldwide. It typically emerges in late adolescence or early twenties, with symptoms including hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and behavioral disturbances. According to the World Health Organization, over two-thirds of people with psychotic disorders do not receive the specialized care they need.
Doxycycline is commonly used to treat acne in adolescents, and recent studies indicate it can cross the blood-brain barrier, making its potential effects on the brain a subject of growing interest.
In the new study, a team led by psychiatrist Ian Kelleher analyzed data from over 56,000 individuals born in Finland between 1987 and 1997 who used mental health services during adolescence and received antibiotics.
The results showed that the risk of developing schizophrenia over the following ten years was 30–35% lower among those who took doxycycline, dropping from 2.1% among users of other antibiotics to 1.4% among doxycycline users.
Researchers suggest that these differences may be linked to the drug’s effects on neuroinflammation or on the pruning of neural connections, a process some studies indicate plays a role in the development of schizophrenia.
