Al-2 to the rescue against antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis?

The downside of antibiotic treatment of infectious diseases is a disturbed intestinal microbiota leading to reduced resistance against pathogen colonization. Work by Thompson et al. now suggests that antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis can partially be counterbalanced by artificially increasing the levels of autoinducer-2 (Al-2), a well-known bacterial communication molecule.