Preliminary analysis showed country-specific gut resistome based on 1267 feces samples

Abstract

Gut microbiota (GM) plays an important role in drug metabolism and absorption. Ever-increasing antibiotic use could result in high accumulation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in GM, which will reduce the recovery rate of many infectious diseases. The foci of this study is to unravel ARG distribution in GM of 1267 subjects from four countries in three continents, by annotation with ARDB (Antibiotic Resistance Genes Database) and ARG-ANNOT database. Analysis results showed that all three continents had similar ARG composition, but Chinese had the highest ARG relative abundance, followed by American and European. This is possibly attributed to delayed policies on antibiotic use in China, and restrict legislation in Europe. Delivery time and application scope are proportional to ARG enrichment in GM. Findings in this study indicate that ARG accumulation could be associated with government policies on antibiotic use, and corresponding delivery time and application scope, which will be a significant reference to control antibiotic abuse.