The Use of Antimicrobials in Animal Husbandry as a Potential Factor for the Increased Incidence of Colorectal Cancer: Food Safety and Kinetics in a Murine Model

Animals (Basel). 2025 Jan 23;15(3):315. doi: 10.3390/ani15030315.

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of the prolonged use of the broad-spectrum antimicrobial widely used in animal husbandry. By means of a mouse model, a translational study was carried out on immunocompetent mice (with a complete immune system). This study highlighted the effect of antimicrobial residues taken in with food on the growth time of cancer and on alterations to the gut microbiota. This project considered the fight against antimicrobial resistance from a One Health perspectivethrough collaboration between human medicine and veterinary medicine. Regarding food safety, antimicrobial residues in products of animal origin are rarely detected; they therefore constitute a negligible factor in determining colorectal cancer.

Keywords: One Health; antimicrobials; colorectal cancer; food safety.