There has been a lot of media attention on drug-resistant bacteria lately. According to the Food and Drug Administration overuse of antibiotics is the primary cause of drug resistance in disease-causing bacteria.
Researchers from Ohio State University have now uncovered another way harmful bacteria can acquire antibiotic resistance-close proximity with harmless bacteria found in foods people eat every day.
The research team led by food microbiologist Hua Wang Ph.D, an assistant professor of food science and technology in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, found that bacteria in food, also known as commensal bacteria, can carry drug resistance genes that may be transferred to disease-causing bacteria and human residential bacteria through natural gene transfer mechanisms.
Before her research, very little was known about antibiotic resistance in commensal bacteria. She found that commensal bacteria in seafood, meat products, produce and cheeses carried resistance genes for two common antibiotics, tetracycline and erythromycin. Interestingly she did not find antibiotic resistance in processed cheese, which is heat-treated after fermentation, and yogurt. Other researchers have also found antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria from the human oral cavity and gut.
| | "We need more research to establish the direct correlation between the antibiotic-resistant microbes from foods and the antibiotic-resistant population in host ecosystems," Wang said, "but it is evident that a constant supply of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, partnered with occasional colonization and horizontal gene transfer, are at least partially responsible for the increased antibiotic resistance profiles seen in humans." [This knowledge will allow us to] develop targeted strategies to combat the problem," Wang said. "One strategy is to focus our efforts on minimizing the emergence of resistant bacteria through proper food processing controls. Meanwhile, it is also important to realize that it is still essential to introduce beneficial bacteria to humans, as they have important functions in the human digestive tract and are critical for human health. But we need to screen for these bacteria more carefully to exclude those with potential risks." |
Her findings have been presented at the May 23 2007 annual meeting of the American Society of Microbiology in Toronto.
Adapted from this Ohio State University press release.
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