STOP: Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics During Ovarian Cancer Chemotherapy
Harm potential: RED — Following this STOP inappropriately could delay life-saving antibiotic therapy.
WikiBiomeThe human microbiome encyclopediaRanked matches across titles, topics, categories, and article introductions.
Harm potential: RED — Following this STOP inappropriately could delay life-saving antibiotic therapy.
Warning: Clinical Disclaimer: This STOP page represents a hypothesis based on mechanistic evidence and should NOT replace clinical judgment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before modifying any treatment plan. Evidence quality ratings reflect the str…
Research summary -- not medical advice. This page synthesizes published research on why broad-spectrum antibiotics may worsen gut dysbiosis rather than correct it. This does NOT apply to life-threatening infections requiring antibiotic treatment. Consult a qualified hea…
Warning: Clinical Disclaimer: This STOP page represents a hypothesis based on mechanistic evidence and should NOT replace clinical judgment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before modifying any treatment plan. Evidence quality ratings reflect the str…
Warning: Clinical Disclaimer: This STOP page represents a hypothesis based on mechanistic evidence and should NOT replace clinical judgment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before modifying any treatment plan. Evidence quality ratings reflect the str…
A Gram-negative, aerobic, non-fermenting coccobacillus and a member of the ESKAPE group of priority pathogens (Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter). Acinetobacter baumannii is among the most problematic nosocomial pathogens…
WHO Priority 1: Critical. A Gram-negative, strictly aerobic coccobacillus and one of the most dangerous nosocomial pathogens on the planet. A. baumannii belongs to the ESKAPE group and causes ventilator-associated pneumonia, wound infections, and bloodstream infections …
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The ability of microorganisms to survive and replicate in the presence of antimicrobial agents — antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antiparasitic drugs — at concentrations that would normally inhibit or kill them. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is designated by the W…
Arsenic is a metalloid and potent carcinogen (IARC Group 1) that ranks among the most widespread environmental toxicants affecting human health. An estimated 225 million people worldwide are chronically exposed through contaminated drinking water alone ghosh 2023 heavy …
Barnesiella is a genus of Gram-negative, obligate anaerobic bacteria within the phylum Bacteroidetes. It is a commensal member of the healthy human gut microbiota, recognized for its role in colonization resistance — the ability of the resident microbiome to prevent est…
Beta-lactamases are bacterial enzymes that hydrolyze the beta-lactam ring of penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems, rendering them inactive. They are the most common mechanism of antibiotic resistance and a central concern in the antimicrobial resistance crisis. …
Structured microbial communities encased in a self-produced extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix. Biofilms are the predominant mode of bacterial and fungal growth in chronic infections, device-associated infections, and the gut. From a metallomics perspective,…
A heavy metal traditionally considered safe enough for over-the-counter gastrointestinal remedies (Pepto-Bismol, De-Nol), bismuth is re-emerging as a potent antimicrobial synergist. Its key property: Bi3+ competes with Fe3+ for binding sites on siderophores and bacteria…
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The most biologically potent short-chain fatty acid (C4). Butyrate is the primary energy source for colonocytes, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor with broad epigenetic effects, and a key anti-inflammatory mediator. Its depletion -- driven by loss of butyrate-produ…
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Campylobacter is a genus of Gram-negative, microaerophilic, spiral-shaped bacteria. C. jejuni is the most common bacterial cause of foodborne gastroenteritis worldwide and a trigger for post-infectious Guillain-Barré syndrome (molecular mimicry between Campylobacter LOS…
Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen first identified in 2009 (Satoh et al. 2009, from a Japanese patient's ear canal) and now classified as a critical-priority pathogen by the WHO (WHO Fungal Priority Pathogens List 2022) and CDC (CDC 2019 A…
Cephalosporins are a class of beta-lactam antibiotics (five generations) that inhibit bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding penicillin-binding proteins. They are among the most prescribed antibiotic classes and among the most disruptive to the gut microbiome.
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A progressive loss of kidney function affecting approximately 850 million people worldwide (10–14% of adults), causing 1.2 million deaths annually. CKD is unique among diseases in this wiki because it occupies both sides of the metal-disease equation: heavy metals (Cd, …
A Gram-positive, spore-forming, obligate anaerobic bacterium that is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis in healthcare settings. In the metallomics framework, C. difficile sits at the intersection of metal-antibiotic co-selec…
This page redirects to clostridioides difficile. Clostridium difficile was reclassified as Clostridioides difficile in 2016 based on phenotypic and phylogenomic analyses that demonstrated it belonged to a distinct clade within the former Clostridium genus. The reclassif…
The process by which selection pressure from one agent — typically a heavy metal — simultaneously selects for resistance to a structurally unrelated agent such as an antibiotic, because the resistance determinants are genetically linked on the same mobile genetic elemen…
The collective ability of the resident gut microbiome to prevent colonization by exogenous pathogens and suppress expansion of resident pathobionts. Colonization resistance is not a property of any single organism but an emergent function of the whole microbial communit…
An essential trace element with a striking dual nature: required for survival as a cofactor for critical enzymes (SOD1, cytochrome c oxidase, ceruloplasmin), yet toxic in excess through Fenton-like redox cycling and mis metallation of iron-sulfur clusters. Copper is ele…
Every meal delivers metals to the gut lumen — essential minerals, trace elements, and contaminants alike. These metals do not passively transit the GI tract. They actively reshape the microbial ecosystem, selecting for metal-tolerant organisms, enabling virulence in met…
Disruption of the normal composition and metabolic function of microbial communities, particularly the gut microbiome. In the metallomics context, dysbiosis is both a consequence of metal toxicity and an amplifier of further disease -- creating vicious cycles where meta…
Membrane-spanning protein complexes that actively export substrates from the bacterial cell, using energy from ATP hydrolysis or the proton motive force. In the context of metal-microbiome biology, efflux pumps serve a dual role that has profound clinical consequences: …
A family of Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic Gammaproteobacteria that includes many of the most important human pathogens: escherichia coli, klebsiella pneumoniae, salmonella typhimurium, shigella flexneri, yersinia pestis, proteus mirabilis, Morganella, and Serrati…
A genus of Gram-positive bacteria (primarily E. faecalis and E. faecium) that exemplifies the metal-antibiotic resistance co-selection crisis. Enterococci carry diverse metal tolerance genes for mercury, arsenic, copper, and cadmium on the same mobile genetic elements a…
A group 13 post-transition metal (atomic number 31) with no known biological function in any organism — yet one of the most promising antimicrobial metals precisely because of what it cannot do. Ga3+ is nearly identical to Fe3+ in ionic radius (0.62 Å vs 0.645 Å) and co…
Alphabetical definitions of specialist terms used throughout this wiki. Where a full concept page exists, the term links to it. --- AhR (aryl hydrocarbon receptor) -- A ligand-activated transcription factor that senses microbial metabolites (especially indoles from tryp…
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.
A Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and member of the ESKAPE group of antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens. K. pneumoniae deploys multiple nickel-dependent enzymes for virulence and relies on the dual-function metallophore yersiniabactin for both iron and nickel s…
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.
Mercury is the most toxic heavy metal with no known biological function. Its organic form -- methylmercury (MeHg) -- is the primary concern for dietary exposure via fish consumption. Mercury's toxicity centers on thiol group binding, glutathione depletion, and blood-bra…
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Small molecules produced, modified, or activated by gut microbiota that function as the primary chemical language between the microbiome and its host. These metabolites are not passive byproducts — they regulate gene expression, immune cell differentiation, gut barrier …
Mycoplasma is a genus of wall-less bacteria in the class Mollicutes, characterized by the smallest genomes of any self-replicating organisms (~580–1,350 kb). The lack of a cell wall makes them intrinsically resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics and undetectable by Gram s…
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common and lethal gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants, affecting 5-12% of very low birth weight neonates (<1500 g) with mortality rates of 20-30%. Characterized by intestinal inflammation, necrosis, and perforation…
A transition metal occupying a central position in this wiki's evidence base. Nickel is toxic and carcinogenic to humans, yet an essential cofactor for pathogen virulence enzymes. It is the most frequent contact allergen worldwide and drives a wide spectrum of systemic …
The outer membrane (OM) is the defining structural feature of Gram-negative bacteria, providing a permeability barrier that profoundly influences metal acquisition, antibiotic resistance, immune activation, and virulence. For the microbiome-metal axis, the outer membran…
Oxalate (ethanedioic acid, C2O4^2-) is a small dicarboxylic acid found in many plant foods that has outsized significance for mineral metabolism and kidney health. In the gut, oxalate's fate is determined by a single specialist bacterium -- Oxalobacter formigenes -- who…
--- title: Oxalobacter type: entity subtype: microbe created: 2026-04-10 updated: 2026-04-16 lastsubstantiveupdate: 2026-04-16 sources: [duan-2020-gut-microbiota-heavy-metal-probiotic-strategy, zhang-2022-causal-gut-microbiome-cvd-mr, dai-2024-gut-microbiota-cvd-bidirec…
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Pharmacomicrobiomics is the study of bidirectional interactions between drugs and the microbiome. The gut microbiome is not a passive bystander in pharmacology -- it actively metabolizes drugs, alters their bioavailability, and modulates therapeutic efficacy. Conversely…
Ruminococcus albus is a Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium that represents one of the primary cellulolytic (fiber-degrading) specialists in the human gut microbiota. This species constructs cellulosomes — extraordinary multi-enzyme complexes organized on bacter…
Salmonella is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species — S. enterica (with 2,500 serovars including Typhimurium and Typhi) and S. bongori — cause a spectrum of disease from self-limiting gastroenteritis…
Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic bacteria in the family Enterobacteriaceae, closely related to Escherichia coli — so closely that many 16S rRNA-based studies report them as the Escherichia/Shigella complex, unable to distinguish the two gene…
Siderophores are small, high-affinity iron-chelating molecules secreted by bacteria, fungi, and some plants to scavenge ferric iron (Fe3+) from their environment. In the context of infection, siderophores are the molecular weapons pathogens deploy to break through nutri…
A non-essential metal with a 5,000-year history of antimicrobial use, silver has re-emerged as a critical tool in the post-antibiotic era. What makes silver particularly interesting from a metallomics perspective is not that it kills bacteria -- many metals do -- but ho…
A versatile Gram-positive pathogen with one of the best-characterized nutritional immunity evasion systems known. S. aureus requires nickel, iron, zinc, and manganese for virulence and has evolved dedicated acquisition systems for each, including the novel metallophore …
Zinc deficiency is a consistent finding in breast cancer, and Zn plays key roles in immunity (T cell differentiation), p53 activation, and SOD cofactor function. Yet supplementation data are limited, and in the Sister Study, zinc showed a dose-related positive associati…
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.
This knowledge-base record is being expanded from WikiBiome’s evidence graph.