Selection of resistant bacteria at very low antibiotic concentrations.
Erik Gullberg,Sha Cao,Otto G. Berg,Carolina Ilbäck,Linus Sandegren,Diarmaid Hughes,Dan I. Andersson +6 more
TLDR
It is suggested that the low antibiotic concentrations found in many natural environments are important for enrichment and maintenance of resistance in bacterial populations.Abstract:
The widespread use of antibiotics is selecting for a variety of resistance mechanisms that seriously challenge our ability to treat bacterial infections. Resistant bacteria can be selected at the high concentrations of antibiotics used therapeutically, but what role the much lower antibiotic concentrations present in many environments plays in selection remains largely unclear. Here we show using highly sensitive competition experiments that selection of resistant bacteria occurs at extremely low antibiotic concentrations. Thus, for three clinically important antibiotics, drug concentrations up to several hundred-fold below the minimal inhibitory concentration of susceptible bacteria could enrich for resistant bacteria, even when present at a very low initial fraction. We also show that de novo mutants can be selected at sub-MIC concentrations of antibiotics, and we provide a mathematical model predicting how rapidly such mutants would take over in a susceptible population. These results add another dimension to the evolution of resistance and suggest that the low antibiotic concentrations found in many natural environments are important for enrichment and maintenance of resistance in bacterial populations.read more
Citations
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When the most potent combination of antibiotics selects for the greatest bacterial load: the smile-frown transition.
Rafael Peña-Miller,David Laehnemann,Gunther Jansen,Ayari Fuentes-Hernandez,Philip Rosenstiel,Hinrich Schulenburg,Robert E. Beardmore +6 more
TL;DR: Finding the most potent combinations of antibiotics in the lab can be a challenge if antibiotic interactions are not robust to evolutionary adaptation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ubiquitous occurrence of sulfonamides in tropical Asian waters.
Akiko Shimizu,Hideshige Takada,Tatsuya Koike,Ayako Takeshita,Mahua Saha,Rinawati,Norihide Nakada,Ayako Murata,Tokuma Suzuki,Satoru Suzuki,Nguyen Huu Chiem,Bui Cach Tuyen,Pham Hung Viet,Maria Auxilia T. Siringan,Charita S. Kwan,Mohamad Pauzi Zakaria,Alissara Reungsang +16 more
TL;DR: Seven sulfonamides, trimethoprim, five macrolides, lincomycin and three tetracyclines were measured in 150 water samples of sewage, livestock and aquaculture wastewater, and river and coastal waters, in five tropical Asian countries, and the most abundant antibiotic was sulfamethoxazole (SMX), followed by lincomYcin and sulfathiazole.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolutionary consequences of drug resistance: shared principles across diverse targets and organisms
Diarmaid Hughes,Dan I. Andersson +1 more
TL;DR: Commonalities and differences related to resistance development that could guide strategies to improve therapeutic effectiveness and the development of a new generation of drugs are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance: a bitter fight against evolution.
TL;DR: The state of knowledge on antibiotics as promoters of antibiotic resistance is reviewed, finding that under certain environmental conditions, subinhibitory concentrations of antimicrobials may increase the mutagenic effect of antibiotics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Human Health and Ocean Pollution.
Philip J. Landrigan,John J. Stegeman,Lora E. Fleming,Denis Allemand,Donald M. Anderson,Lorraine C. Backer,F. Brucker-Davis,Nicolas Chevalier,Lilian Corra,Dorota Czerucka,Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein,Barbara A. Demeneix,Michael H. Depledge,Dimitri D. Deheyn,Charles J. Dorman,Patrick Fénichel,Samantha Fisher,Françoise Gaill,François Galgani,William H. Gaze,Laura Giuliano,Philippe Grandjean,Mark E. Hahn,Amro Hamdoun,Philipp Hess,Bret Judson,Amalia Laborde,Jacqueline McGlade,Jenna Mu,Adetoun Mustapha,Maria Neira,Rachel T. Noble,Maria Luiza Pedrotti,Christopher M. Reddy,Joacim Rocklöv,Ursula M. Scharler,Hariharan Shanmugam,Gabriella Taghian,Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water,Luigi Vezzulli,Pal Weihe,Ariana Zeka,Hervé Raps,Patrick Rampal +43 more
TL;DR: This work examines the known and potential impacts of ocean pollution on human health, identifies gaps in knowledge, project future trends, and proposes priorities for interventions to control and prevent pollution of the seas and safeguard human health.
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