Prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes and their relationship with antibiotics in the Huangpu River and the drinking water sources, Shanghai, China.
TL;DR: The prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and their relationship with antibiotics in the surface waters of the Huangpu River and the drinking water sources of Shanghai, China, were investigated and generally consistent relations were observed between the concentrations of tet genes and the tetracycline levels and between the concentration of sul genes andThe sulfonamide levels.
About: This article is published in Science of The Total Environment.The article was published on 2013-08-01. It has received 290 citations till now.
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TL;DR: The ecology of antibiotics and the ability of subinhibitory concentrations to select for bacterial resistance are discussed and the effects of low-level drug exposure on bacterial physiology are considered, including the generation of genetic and phenotypic variability, as well as the able of antibiotics to function as signalling molecules.
Abstract: The widespread use of antibiotics results in the generation of antibiotic concentration gradients in humans, livestock and the environment. Thus, bacteria are frequently exposed to non-lethal (that is, subinhibitory) concentrations of drugs, and recent evidence suggests that this is likely to have an important role in the evolution of antibiotic resistance. In this Review, we discuss the ecology of antibiotics and the ability of subinhibitory concentrations to select for bacterial resistance. We also consider the effects of low-level drug exposure on bacterial physiology, including the generation of genetic and phenotypic variability, as well as the ability of antibiotics to function as signalling molecules. Together, these effects accelerate the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria among humans and animals.
1,226 citations
TL;DR: It is important to understand the current state of antibiotic use in China and its relationship to ARG prevalence and diversity in the environment, and also future needs in mitigating the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environments, particularly under the 'planetary health' perspective.
932 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors collected information from several investigations on the sources and occurrences of antibiotics in natural and artificial environmental systems, including water resources, effluent from industries, sludge, manure, soil, plants, and organisms across the globe.
Abstract: Antibiotics have been extensively and effectively used in human and veterinary medicines. Their benefits have been recognized in agriculture, aquaculture, bee-keeping, and livestock as growth promoters. This paper collects information from several investigations on the sources and occurrences of antibiotics in natural and artificial environmental systems. Several antibiotics were reported for their occurrences in water resources, effluent from industries, sludge, manure, soil, plants, and organisms across the globe. Sorption, photo-degradation, biodegradation, and oxidation were recognized as the main elimination pathways for these compounds and have been discussed in detail. The adverse effects of the pollutants were also highlighted and necessary suggestions were made for effective monitoring and mitigating pollution, which may provide the scope for future research.
481 citations
TL;DR: The occurrence and distribution of antibiotics and ARGs in global freshwater lakes are summarized to show the pollution level of antibioticsand ARGs and to identify some of the potential risks to ecosystem and human health.
426 citations
TL;DR: An overarching review of the field with focus on the occurrence, transformation and fate of emerging contaminants, factors affecting contaminant fate, association with plastic micro-/nanoparticles and photochemical transformation are comprehensively evaluated.
417 citations
Cites background from "Prevalence of antibiotic resistance..."
...Both human and veterinary antibiotics are commonly found in the aquatic environment (Baquero et al., 2008; Kümmerer, 2009; Martinez, 2009; Jiang et al., 2013; Berglund, 2014)....
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TL;DR: A review of antibiotic resistance development over the past half-century can be found in this article, with the oft-restated conclusion that it is time to act and to restore the therapeutic applications of antibiotics.
Abstract: Antibiotics have always been considered one of the wonder discoveries of the 20th century. This is true, but the real wonder is the rise of antibiotic resistance in hospitals, communities, and the environment concomitant with their use. The extraordinary genetic capacities of microbes have benefitted from man's overuse of antibiotics to exploit every source of resistance genes and every means of horizontal gene transmission to develop multiple mechanisms of resistance for each and every antibiotic introduced into practice clinically, agriculturally, or otherwise. This review presents the salient aspects of antibiotic resistance development over the past half-century, with the oft-restated conclusion that it is time to act. To achieve complete restitution of therapeutic applications of antibiotics, there is a need for more information on the role of environmental microbiomes in the rise of antibiotic resistance. In particular, creative approaches to the discovery of novel antibiotics and their expedited and controlled introduction to therapy are obligatory.
4,364 citations
TL;DR: Changing the use of tetracyclines in human and animal health as well as in food production is needed if this class of broad-spectrum antimicrobials through the present century is to continue to be used.
Abstract: Tetracyclines were discovered in the 1940s and exhibited activity against a wide range of microorganisms including gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, chlamydiae, mycoplasmas, rickettsiae, and protozoan parasites. They are inexpensive antibiotics, which have been used extensively in the prophlylaxis and therapy of human and animal infections and also at subtherapeutic levels in animal feed as growth promoters. The first tetracycline-resistant bacterium, Shigella dysenteriae, was isolated in 1953. Tetracycline resistance now occurs in an increasing number of pathogenic, opportunistic, and commensal bacteria. The presence of tetracycline-resistant pathogens limits the use of these agents in treatment of disease. Tetracycline resistance is often due to the acquisition of new genes, which code for energy-dependent efflux of tetracyclines or for a protein that protects bacterial ribosomes from the action of tetracyclines. Many of these genes are associated with mobile plasmids or transposons and can be distinguished from each other using molecular methods including DNA-DNA hybridization with oligonucleotide probes and DNA sequencing. A limited number of bacteria acquire resistance by mutations, which alter the permeability of the outer membrane porins and/or lipopolysaccharides in the outer membrane, change the regulation of innate efflux systems, or alter the 16S rRNA. New tetracycline derivatives are being examined, although their role in treatment is not clear. Changing the use of tetracyclines in human and animal health as well as in food production is needed if we are to continue to use this class of broad-spectrum antimicrobials through the present century.
3,647 citations
TL;DR: This review brings up important questions that are still open, and addresses some significant issues which must be tackled in the future for a better understanding of the behavior of antibiotics in the environment, as well as the risks associated with their occurrence.
3,620 citations
TL;DR: This paper has attempted to summarize the latest information available in the literature on the use, sales, exposure pathways, environmental occurrence, fate and effects of veterinary antibiotics in animal agriculture.
2,856 citations
TL;DR: The final objective is to implement wastewater treatment technologies capable of assuring the production of UWTPs effluents with an acceptable level of ARB, to understand the factors and mechanisms that drive antibiotic resistance maintenance and selection in wastewater habitats.
1,808 citations