Revista de enfermedades infecciosas y terapias inmunitarias

Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment

Guilherme Amaral

Antibiotic tolerance emerged in many bacterial species long before humans began mass-producing antibiotics to prevent and treat infectious illnesses. Isolated caves, permafrost cores, and other settings and specimens that have been maintained from anthropogenic bacterial contamination can provide insight into pre-antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The never-ending fight for resources among microbes, including the natural synthesis of secondary metabolites that are identical to many of the antibiotics used now as medications, is believed to be a major driver of the ancient and currently ongoing evolution of resistance mechanisms [1]. Antibiotics' relatively recent introduction as clinical agents drastically altered the preconditions for resistance evolution and spread by imposing unprecedented selection pressures, particularly on members of the micro biota of humans and domestic animals, but also in antibiotic-polluted environments. The mobilization and horizontal transfer of a wide range of Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) too many bacterial species, particularly those that cause disease, has been aided by this selection pressure [2]. The end result of such accumulated evolutionary events is a progressive increase in the difficulty of preventing and treating bacterial illnesses. Because bacteria and genes frequently traverse species and environmental boundaries, it's crucial to understand and acknowledge the links between the human, animal, and environmental micro biota in order to address this global health issue. The function of the environment in the evolution of resistance and as a pathway for transmission of resistant bacteria that already circulate in humans is described in this Review. We discuss how environmental studies of resistance could provide a representation of the regional clinical resistance state, thereby augmenting traditional surveillance. We also give a critical appraisal of the methodologies utilized to explore antibiotic resistance in the environment, especially in terms of determining selection forces [3]. Finally, we suggest several principles that could guide risk-reduction measures, with a focus on issues in low- and middle-income countries and antibiotic-related emissions.