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REVIEW ARTICLE

The role of probiotics in mitigating gastrointestinal side effects of antibiotic treatment in respiratory infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: A novel approach to gut-lung health

Mahdi Ahmadinia1 Akram Qanavati2 Behnaz Gholizadeh Niari3 Mohammad Sadegh Keshmiri1 Maryam Abbasi4 Roja Qobadighadikolaei5 Faezeh Jamali3,6*
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1 Lung Transplantation Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Internal Medicine Department, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Department of Pulmonology, Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
5 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
6 Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Received: 18 December 2025 | Revised: 2 February 2026 | Accepted: 11 March 2026 | Published online: 26 June 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of severe respiratory infections, particularly in patients with chronic pulmonary diseases, and its treatment often necessitates prolonged use of broad-spectrum or potent anti-MRSA antibiotics. While these therapies are essential for infection control, they frequently disrupt gut microbiota, leading to dysbiosis and gastrointestinal complications such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridioides difficile infection. Increasing evidence indicates that antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis may also influence respiratory immunity through the gut–lung axis, potentially affecting pulmonary inflammation and infection outcomes. Probiotics have emerged as a potential adjunctive strategy to mitigate antibiotic-related gastrointestinal adverse effects by restoring microbial balance, enhancing intestinal barrier integrity, and modulating host immune responses. This narrative review examines current preclinical, indirect clinical, and limited clinical evidence regarding the role of probiotics in alleviating gastrointestinal side effects of antibiotic therapy in MRSA-related respiratory infections and explores their suggestive immunomodulatory effects on pulmonary health via gut–lung immune interactions. Experimental and observational studies indicate that probiotic-mediated restoration of gut microbiota and microbial metabolites, particularly short-chain fatty acids, may exert systemic immunoregulatory effects extending to the lungs. However, direct, high-quality clinical evidence specifically supporting probiotic use in MRSA pneumonia remains limited and preliminary. Overall, probiotics represent a microbiome-centered supportive approach with biological plausibility but incomplete clinical validation for improving gastrointestinal tolerance to antibiotic therapy and supporting immune homeostasis in MRSA respiratory infections. Further well-designed, MRSA-specific clinical trials incorporating microbiome and immunological endpoints are required before definitive clinical recommendations can be made.

Keywords
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Probiotics
Respiratory tract infections
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Gastrointestinal microbiome
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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