2023-08-21 01:37:49
Cooking food thoroughly during antibiotic treatment may reduce the antibiotic resistanceby preventing bacteria carrying resistance genes from entering the intestine, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE (1).
New research from the University of Nottingham (UK) has modeled how antibiotic resistance genes accumulate through lifetime exposure from food intake and antibiotic treatment. The research provides new insights into the long-term rise of resistance genes in gut bacteria and how it could be prevented.
Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections represent one of the most serious contemporary global health crises
Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections represent one of the most serious contemporary global health crises. The acquisition and spread of resistant infections can occur through the community, hospitals, food, water, or bacteria that live within us or to which we may be exposed, such as ‘E. coli’.
The diversity of antibiotic genes in the gut microbiota is related to age
The research modeled data from a previous study that found that the diversity of antibiotic genes in the gut microbiota is related to age. Study demonstrates that the long-term increase in resistance in human gut microbiomes can be substantially reduced reducing exposure to resistance genes present in food and water, as well as the medical use of antibiotics.
The work suggests that reducing the intake of resistance genes is especially effective during periods of antibiotic treatment, in which there is an increased risk of gene retention. The researchers suggest that people undergoing antibiotic treatment be given dietary advice to avoid products with the highest risk of carrying them (even in otherwise harmless bacteria), as well as to ensure that all foods consumed during the treat are fully cooked.
Dov StekelProfessor of Computational Biology at the University of Nottingham, who led the study, explains that “when you’re taking antibiotics, that’s exactly when you’re most likely to create long-term problems from drug-resistant bacteria from food. If we eat something that contains bacteria that do us no harm, but do contain some drug-resistant genes, and it turns out that we are taking antibiotics when we eat it, those resistances could establish themselves in our gut ecosystem, so that the next time we we need antibiotics they may not work effectively,” he adds.
The study also demonstrates other factors that may reduce the acquisition and long-term retention of genes that provide resistance to different classes of antibiotics. Given the genes accumulate throughout life, the less exposure to them, the betterso a conservative approach to antibiotic availability and dosing guidelinesas already applied in many countries, and as advocated in much of the antibiotic resistance literature, would be a practical approach to reduce the number of long-term acquired resistance.
Control the gut microbiome of cattle
Reducing the number of genes acquired throughout life could also be achieved through policy and practice changes in the food supply chain, including agriculture and post-harvest food production. Research from the Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine is studying this possibility using artificial intelligence to control the gut microbiome of cattle.
Professor Stekel adds that “the level of benefit that can be obtained from alterations in medical treatment and changes in diet depends to a large extent on the level of antibiotic use, which varies greatly from country to country. Although our general model demonstrates benefits at all levels of prescribing, a more nuanced approach that takes into account region- and country-specific practices, along with specific details of antibiotic classes and associated resistance genes, would provide a better means of quantifying benefits potentials of these changes,” he concludes.
References (1) A model of antibiotic resistance gene accumulation through lifetime exposure from food intake and antibiotic treatment. PLOS ONE.
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