Antibiotic Resistance Crisis Research Articles

UK and European Union public and charitable funding from 2008 to 2013 for bacteriology and antibiotic research in the UK: an observational study

Since the 1990s, the number of new antibacterial drugs has plummeted and the number of antibiotic-resistant infections has risen, which has decreased the effective treatment of many disorders, including sepsis. We aimed to assess whether funding for bacteriology and antibiotic research to UK researchers had increased in response to this global crisis. We systematically searched websites and databases of agencies that fund research in the UK to identify publicly and charitably funded projects from financial years 2008 to 2013 within the specialties of bacteriology and antibiotic research. We created a database to identify the projects funded. Grants awarded in euros were converted to pounds sterling (€1=£0·86). We identified 609 projects within the specialty of bacteriology, 196 (32·2%) of which were on antibiotics. Of £13 846·1 million of available research funding, £269·2 million (1·9%) was awarded to bacteriology projects and £95·0 million (0·7%) was awarded for research on antibiotics. Additionally, £181·4 million in European Union (EU) funding was awarded to antibiotic research consortia including researchers based within the UK, including two EU Innovative Medicines Initiative awards, totalling £85·2 million. To increase awareness of who funds antibiotic research and to facilitate priority setting and funding decisions, funding organisations need to be aware of the breadth and depth of present funding as a baseline by which funding from 2014 onwards can be measured and so that informed decisions about the future level of funding can be made. To resolve the crisis of antibiotic resistance, present levels of funding are inadequate and should be increased substantially. British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

English

Drug resistant Escherichia coli persist in the intestinal flora of poultry birds, and these serve as route via which they can be transmitted directly to humans, thus contributing to the already growing crisis of antibiotic resistance. The purpose of this study was to determine the cloacal feacal carriage and occurrence of antibiotic resistant E. coli isolates from chicken fed with and without antibiotic supplemented feeds. Cloacal feacal swabs (n = 200) were aseptically obtained from two poultry farms in Abakaliki metropolis, Ebonyi state of Nigeria, and these were inoculated on MacConkey and cystine-lactose-electrolyte-deficient (CLED) media and incubated at 37°C for 18 to 24 h. Suspected colonies of E. coli growing on the agar media were subcultured, purified and further characterized using standard microbiology techniques. Antibiogram was investigated using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method as per the clinical laboratory standards institute (CLSI) criteria. A total of 45 E. coli was isolated from the 200 cloacal feacal swab samples used for this study. Overall, 28% of E. coli were isolated from chicken fed with feed supplemented with antibiotics while only 17% of E. coli was isolated from chicken that received feed without antibiotics supplements. All the E. coli isolates showed varying rates of resistance and susceptibility to the tested antibiotics. Our results strongly reveal the occurrence of antibiotic resistant E. coli from chicken fed with and without antibiotic supplemented feeds. It is very critical that the continuous use of antibiotics in poultry production be strictly monitored, controlled and discouraged in order to contain the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria through poultry production. Key words: Resistance, Escherichia coli, poultry, veterinary, Nigeria.

Bacteriophage therapy: a potential solution for the antibiotic resistance crisis

The emergence of multiple drug-resistant bacteria has prompted interest in alternatives to conventional antimicrobials. One of the possible replacement options for antibiotics is the use of bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents. Phage therapy is an important alternative to antibiotics in the current era of drug-resistant pathogens. Bacteriophages have played an important role in the expansion of molecular biology and have been used as antibacterial agents since 1966. In this review, we describe a brief history of bacteriophages and clinical studies on their use in bacterial disease prophylaxis and therapy. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of bacteriophages as therapeutic agents in this regard.

In Memoriam: John P. Quinn, MD

In Memoriam: John P. Quinn, MD

Antibiotic Action: helping deliver action plans and strategies

The Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission on antibiotic resistance and use 1 Laxminarayan R Duse A Wattal C et al. Antibiotic resistance—the need for global solutions. Lancet Infect Dis. 2013; (published online Nov 17.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70318-9 PubMed Google Scholar provides a global overview of antibiotic resistance, the paucity of new drugs to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections, and some of the key issues and proposals to resolve the present difficulties. Insufficient understanding of the complex and myriad reasons for the crisis of antibiotic resistance and scarcity of new treatments has complicated and compounded the predicament. For these reasons, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) public engagement initiative Antibiotic Action was launched in November 2011, 2 Piddock LJV The crisis of no new antibiotics–what is the way forward?. Lancet Infect Dis. 2012; 12: 249-253 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (307) Google Scholar to inform and educate everyone about the need for discovery, research, and development of new treatments for bacterial infections. The initiative contributes to national and international activities, and acts as a conduit for the sharing of information about antibiotic resistance and paucity of new drugs with all stakeholders. Antibiotic resistance—the need for global solutionsThe causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society; the consequences affect everybody in the world. Similarities with climate change are evident. Many efforts have been made to describe the many different facets of antibiotic resistance and the interventions needed to meet the challenge. However, coordinated action is largely absent, especially at the political level, both nationally and internationally. Antibiotics paved the way for unprecedented medical and societal developments, and are today indispensible in all health systems. Full-Text PDF

Evolution of bacterial resistance to antibiotics in México, 1973-2013

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a worldwide public health concern. Research priorities for the study and control of this emerging problem include country-wide surveillance. To review and comment on the contributions by Mexican investigators towards a greater understanding of the mechanisms of bacterial antibiotic resistance. A comprehensive search of the medical literature on Medline/PubMed between 1973 and July 2013 was performed. The contributions of Mexican investigators have included descriptions of resistance in enteric pathogens, such as Salmonella Typhi, publications on the production of extended spectrum beta-lactamases, metallo-beta-lactamases, and carbapenemases, resistance mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and the evolution of resistance in Gram-positive pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae , Staphylococcus aureus , and Enterococcus spp. The Mexican literature on mechanisms of bacterial resistance is relevant for the development of plans to control the antibiotic resistance crisis.

A problem of persistence: still more questions than answers?

The current antibiotic resistance crisis has led to increased pressure to prioritize strategies to tackle the issue, with a strong focus being placed on the development of novel antimicrobials. However, one major obstacle that is often overlooked is persister cells, which are refractory to antibiotic treatment. Tackling persistence is a challenge because these cell types are extremely difficult to study and, consequently, little is known about their physiology and the factors that lead to their emergence. Here, four experts contemplate the main physiological features that define persistence and the implications of persistence for antibiotic treatment regimens, and consider what the study of bacterial persistence has taught us about the heterogeneity of bacterial populations.

Influence of Humans on Evolution and Mobilization of Environmental Antibiotic Resistome

The clinical failure of antimicrobial drugs that were previously effective in controlling infectious disease is a tragedy of increasing magnitude that gravely affects human health. This resistance by pathogens is often the endpoint of an evolutionary process that began billions of years ago in non–disease-causing microorganisms. This environmental resistome, its mobilization, and the conditions that facilitate its entry into human pathogens are at the heart of the current public health crisis in antibiotic resistance. Understanding the origins, evolution, and mechanisms of transfer of resistance elements is vital to our ability to adequately address this public health issue.

Strategies to Overcome the Action of Aminoglycoside-Modifying Enzymes for Treating Resistant Bacterial Infections

Shortly after the discovery of the first antibiotics, bacterial resistance began to emerge. Many mechanisms give rise to resistance; the most prevalent mechanism of resistance to the aminoglycoside (AG) family of antibiotics is the action of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs). Since the identification of these modifying enzymes, many efforts have been put forth to prevent their damaging alterations of AGs. These diverse strategies are discussed within this review, including: creating new AGs that are unaffected by AMEs; developing inhibitors of AMEs to be co-delivered with AGs; or regulating AME expression. Modern high-throughput methods as well as drug combinations and repurposing are highlighted as recent drug-discovery efforts towards fighting the increasing antibiotic resistance crisis.

Less talk, more action

The publication of the second volume of England's annual health report has increased pressure to prioritize strategies to tackle the antibiotic resistance crisis.

English

This study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of antibiotic resistance inSalmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in meat in Saudi Arabia. Samples of domestic and imported meat (beef, camel, lamb) and poultry were purchased from local retail outlets in Riyadh area. There was some contamination from each of the bacteria in all types of meat analyzed, with E. coli being the most prevalent overall at 72.2%, Enterococcus prevalence was 26.2%, S. aureusprevalence was 24.6% and  Salmonella prevalence was 10.7%. Additionally, these bacteria were resistant to a number of antibiotics and some were multidrug resistant. S. aureus and Enterococcus were both either resistant or intermediate to Erythromycin (79 and 86%, respectively).  E. coli was resistant to Ampicillin (44%). Salmonella was resistant to Ceftiofur (67%). Bacterial contamination of meat is a multi-country problem and consideration should be made to improve methods of decontaminating food animals and work surfaces during meat processing to reduce the levels of bacteria that are transferred to the finished product. This will also help to decrease the growing crisis of bacterial antibiotic resistance.   Key words: Foodborne pathogens, antibiotic resistance, food animals, meat

Tackling the crisis of antibiotic resistance.

Tackling the crisis of antibiotic resistance.

Opportunities for Synthetic Biology in Antibiotics: Expanding Glycopeptide Chemical Diversity

Synthetic biology offers a new path for the exploitation and improvement of natural products to address the growing crisis in antibiotic resistance. All antibiotics in clinical use are facing eventual obsolesce as a result of the evolution and dissemination of resistance mechanisms, yet there are few new drug leads forthcoming from the pharmaceutical sector. Natural products of microbial origin have proven over the past 70 years to be the wellspring of antimicrobial drugs. Harnessing synthetic biology thinking and strategies can provide new molecules and expand chemical diversity of known antibiotic scaffolds to provide much needed new drug leads. The glycopeptide antibiotics offer paradigmatic scaffolds suitable for such an approach. We review these strategies here using the glycopeptides as an example and demonstrate how synthetic biology can expand antibiotic chemical diversity to help address the growing resistance crisis.

A Review of Antibiotic Use in Food Animals: Perspective, Policy, and Potential

Antibiotic use plays a major role in the emerging public health crisis of antibiotic resistance. Although the majority of antibiotic use occurs in agricultural settings, relatively little attention has been paid to how antibiotic use in farm animals contributes to the overall problem of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this review is to summarize literature on the role of antibiotics in the development of resistance and its risk to human health. We searched multiple databases to identify major lines of argument supporting the role of agricultural antibiotic use in the development of resistance and to summarize existing regulatory and policy documents. Several lines of reasoning support the conclusion that agricultural antibiotics are associated with resistance, yet most public policy is based on expert opinion and consensus. Finally, we propose strategies to address current gaps in knowledge.

Phage Therapy: Delivering on the Promise

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and, in many cases, destroy their bacterial targets. Within a few years of their initial discovery they were being investigated as therapeutic agents for infectious disease, an approach known as phage therapy. However, the nature of these exquisitely specific agents was not understood and much early use was both uninformed and unsuccessful. As a result they were replaced by chemical antibiotics once these became available. Although work on phage therapy continued (and continues) in Eastern Europe, this was not conducted to a standard allowing it to support clinical uses in areas regulated by the European Medicines Agency or the US FDA. To develop phage therapy for these areas requires work carried out in accordance with the requirements of these agencies, and, driven by the current crisis of antibiotic resistance, such clinical trials are now under way. The first Phase I clinical trial of safety was reported in 2005, and the results of the first Phase II clinical trial of efficacy of a bacteriophage therapeutic was published in 2009. While the delivery of these relatively large and complex agents to the site of disease can be more challenging than for conventional, small-molecule antibiotics, bacteriophages are then able to multiply locally even from an extremely low (picogram range) initial dose. This multiplication where and only where they are needed underlies the potential for bacteriophage therapeutics to become a much needed and powerful weapon against bacterial disease.

Susceptibility of Gram-positive and -negative bacteria to novel nitric oxide-releasing nanoparticle technology

The rapidly evolving crisis of antibiotic resistance among microorganisms has contributed to the rise of patient morbidity and mortality from nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Therefore, innovative antimicrobial technology targeting mechanisms to which the bacteria are unlikely to evolve resistance is urgently needed. We have previously described a nitric oxide-releasing nanoparticle (NO-np) with efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii in vitro and in murine wound and abscess models. Although the prior findings suggest that the NO-np can be a useful therapeutic for skin and soft tissue infections, the antimicrobial spectrum of NO-np has yet to be fully elucidated. In the current study, we investigated the efficacy of a NO-np against several Gram-positive and -negative clinical isolates. We found that the NO-np were uniformly active against all of the Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates examined, including strains that were both sensitive and resistant to commonly used antibiotics. We concluded that the NO-np have the potential to serve as a novel broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

New Macrolides Essential to Treat CABP

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology NewsVol. 31, No. 9 Translational MedicineNew Macrolides Essential to Treat CABPCommunity Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia and Other Infections Must Be Addressed NowPublished Online:1 Sep 2011https://doi.org/10.1089/gen.31.9.24AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byThe antibiotic resistance crisis, with a focus on the United States1 March 2017 | The Journal of Antibiotics, Vol. 70, No. 5 Volume 31Issue 9May 2011 Information© 2011 by GEN PublishingTo cite this article:Prabhavathi Fernandes, Jennifer Schranz,.New Macrolides Essential to Treat CABP.Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.May 2011.54-55.http://doi.org/10.1089/gen.31.9.24Published in Volume: 31 Issue 9: September 1, 2011PDF download

Strategies for Reduction in Duration of Antibiotic Use in Hospitalized Patients

There is a global crisis of antibiotic resistance in part because of the collateral damage of antibiotic use. Reduction in antibiotic consumption is clearly important to minimize this problem. Limiting treatment duration may be the most clinically palatable means of reducing antibiotic consumption. Antimicrobial stewardship programs play an important role in this process. Their effectiveness may be increased by drawing on evidence from randomized controlled trials regarding optimal antibiotic duration. However, in most clinical scenarios, the recommended duration of therapy in published guidelines is based on expert opinion. Biological markers, such as procalcitonin, have been shown to reduce antimicrobial consumption with no adverse outcome in 11 randomized controlled trials. Although procalcitonin may not be the perfect biomarker, the concept of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation after clinical stabilization, in conjunction with antimicrobial stewardship programs, appears to be ready for introduction into clinical practice.

Revived interest in bacteriophages

Summary Phages have a track record of being left behind whenever science moves on to other things. But will the inexorable spread of antibiotic resistance lead to a revival of their role as antibacterial therapeutics? Michael Gross investigates.

The Antibiotic Crisis: Can We Reverse 65 Years of Failed Stewardship?

The Antibiotic Crisis: Can We Reverse 65 Years of Failed Stewardship?