Abstract
Bacterial infections involving antibiotic resistant gram-negative bacteria continue to increase and represent a major global public health concern. Resistance to antibiotics in these bacteria is mediated by chromosomal and/or acquired resistance mechanisms, these give rise to multi-drug resistant (MDR) or extensive drug resistant (XDR) bacterial strains. Most recently, a novel acquired plasmid mediated resistance mechanism to colistin, an antibiotic that had been set apart as the last resort antibiotic in the treatment of infections involving MDR and XDR gram-negative bacteria, has been reported. Plasmid mediated colistin resistant gram-negative bacteria have been described to be pan-drug resistant, implying a state devoid of alternative antibiotic therapeutic options. This review describes the evolution of antibiotic resistance to plasmid mediated colistin resistance, and discusses the potential role of high-throughput sequencing technologies, genomics and bioinformatics towards improving antibiotic resistance surveillance, the search for novel drug targets and precision antibiotic therapy focused at combating colistin resistance, and antimicrobial resistance as a whole.
Highlights
In the recent past, old antibiotic classes previously deemed unfit for treatment of bacterial infections due to associated toxicity concerns have been recommended for treatment in this type of infection[1,2]
Gram-negative bacteria continue to undergo chromosomal mutations, which render their respective treatments virtually impossible and a major threat to global public health. The effects of these antibiotic resistance mutations are further exacerbated by horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in the same bacteria
It describes the evolution of antibiotic resistance to plasmid mediated colistin resistance and the potential role of genomics and bioinformatics in precision antibiotic therapy targeted towards combating colistin resistance and antimicrobial resistance
Summary
2. Hosam Zowawi , The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Sharif Hala, King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. University of Padova, This article is included in the Antimicrobial Resistance collection. Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article
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