Opioid use may weaken immune systems, leaving patients more vulnerable to infection, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
The study looked at the highly contagious Clostridioides difficile, also known as C. diff, a bacterium that infects the colon and causes severe diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
About 500,000 people get it each year, and in the most serious cases, C. diff can be deadly. People taking certain antibiotics or with weakened immune systems are especially at risk of developing the disease, and using opioids could be another risk factor, according to the paper.
The meta-analysis examined four studies of almost 120,000 patients. The researchers found that about 31% of patients who were prescribed and taking opioids caught C. diff, compared to 17% of patients who weren’t using them.
“Opioids mess with the gut microbiome, and that creates an environment that is more likely to support C. diff colonization,” said Pooja Gokhale, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in UGA’s College of Pharmacy. “And because opioids can lead to immunosuppression, you’re more susceptible to infections in general, and of course, C. diff is a highly infectious disease.”
Opioid prescriptions still serve an important role in certain cases. Researchers said doctors should consider the individual patient’s needs.
“It has to be case by case. Each patient has a very different history,” said Gokhale. “If it’s a healthy young patient, physicians may not be as concerned about the risk, but hospitalized or immunocompromised patients are already at high risk.”
The study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
