New Study Reveals How Bacteria in Hospitals Adapt and Form Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics are used to treat serious illnesses caused by pathogenic bacteria as a "last option," but developing resistance by "superbugs" to most clinically authorized medications puts patients at risk of death.

A new study looks at a hospital strain of Acinetobacter baumannii and its cellular response to the antibiotic colistin.

New insights on antibiotic resistance

(Photo : HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious threats to global health, food security, and development, according to the World Health Organization, with a growing number of infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and salmonellosis becoming more difficult to treat as antibiotics become less effective, as per ScienceDaily.

Researchers warn that antibiotic resistance leads to longer hospital stays, greater medical expenditures, and increased death.

According to Flinders University microbial researcher Dr. Sarah Giles, there are fewer and fewer novel medicines being developed and produced for medical usage throughout the world, which is exacerbated by the ever-increasing antibiotic resistance shown in bacterial strains causing diseases.

Dr. Giles and other authors discovered that the A. baumannii bacterial strain possessed a two-component signal system that varied its potential response to antibiotic treatment as part of an NHMRC-Flinders University Research Scholarship research.

A response regulator protein in the StkR/S system acts as a repressor in this 'two-component signal transduction' seen, and when genetically deleted, hundreds of transcriptional alterations are seen.

Some of these modifications influence the outer membrane component of the bacterial cell, resulting in colistin resistance.

Colistin is a 'last resort' antibiotic, thus discovering and comprehending the mechanisms that contribute to bacterial antibiotic resistance is crucial, according to senior researcher Professor Melissa Brown.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) develops when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve over time and lose their ability to respond to antibiotics, making infections more difficult to cure and raising the risk of disease transmission, severe sickness, and even death.

Read more: What Happens If You Don't Finish Antibiotics?

Antibiotic distribution map to help slow down the problems

According to the newest data from the United States, antibiotics are 42 percent more likely to be in low supply than all other medications, as per Digital Journal.

Medicine Supply Vulnerability Insights from the United States Pharmacopeia (USP).

These findings come from the USP's own worldwide Medicine Supply Map, which is based on 40 external datasets and private data on how USP quality criteria are used.

This database contains 92 percent of all generic drugs licensed in the United States.

Antibiotic resistance is a complicated issue caused by a number of linked causes, including the use and abuse of antimicrobial agents (antibiotics, antiseptics, disinfectants, and preservatives), among others.

As a result of the acquired resistance, there are fewer medications to choose from to aid patients, and antimicrobial shortages risk the establishment and worsening of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance caused 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019, and without global action, resistance might cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050.

Cephalosporins, more than any other class of antibacterial medicine, are at high risk of scarcity due to price, with 40% of active pharmaceutical components used in cephalosporins being in short supply.

Cephalosporins are considered crucial antimicrobials for human medicine by the WHO.

There is also a geographic concentration of antimicrobial manufacturing facility registration locations in India and China, which together produce 58 percent of antibacterial active medicinal components. This denotes the most stringent regulatory inspection.

More poor and counterfeit versions of medications may enter the supply chain as a result of medication shortages.

Antimicrobial resistance is also fueled by low-quality drugs, especially when microbes in the body are exposed to sub-therapeutic amounts. Pathogens can evolve and develop resistance in this environment.

Related article: Babies' Health: Antibiotics Can Cause Gut Microbiome Disturbances in Infants