Distribution of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Saliva of Healthy Omnivores, Ovo-Lacto-Vegetarians, and Vegans

Abstract

Food consumption allows the entrance of bacteria and their antibiotic resistance (AR) genes into the human oral cavity. To date, very few studies have examined the influence of diet on the composition of the salivary microbiota, and even fewer investigations have specifically aimed to assess the impact of different long-term diets on the salivary resistome. In this study, the saliva of 144 healthy omnivores, ovo-lacto-vegetarians, and vegans were screened by nested PCR for the occurrence of 12 genes conferring resistance to tetracyclines, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B, vancomycin, and β-lactams. The tet(W), tet(M), and erm(B) genes occurred with the highest frequencies. Overall, no effect of diet on AR gene distribution was seen. Some differences emerged at the recruiting site level, such as the higher frequency of erm(C) in the saliva of the ovo-lacto-vegetarians and omnivores from Bologna and Turin, respectively, and the higher occurrence of tet(K) in the saliva of the omnivores from Bologna. A correlation of the intake of milk and cheese with the abundance of tet(K) and erm(C) genes was seen. Finally, when the occurrence of the 12 AR genes was evaluated along with geographical location, age, and sex as sources of variability, high similarity among the 144 volunteers was seen.

Prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in the oral cavity and mobile genetic elements that disseminate antimicrobial resistance: A systematic review

“…Twelve studies were able to be compared to look at the presence of antibiotic resistance genes between different countries (Table 2) (Card et al., 2014; Collins et al., 2016; Diaz‐Mejia et al., 2002; Ioannidis et al., 2009; Jungermann et al., 2011; Manch‐Citron et al., 2000; Milanovic et al., 2020; Patterson et al., 2007; Rocas & Siqueira, 2012, 2013; Sun et al., 2012; Tang et al., 2020).…”

“…From studies looking at antibiotic resistance genes in saliva samples in Europe, the most prevalent gene was erm (B) which was present in up to 97% of individuals (Milanovic et al., 2020). tet (B), tet (O) and tet (W) were all found to be the most common tetracycline resistance genes with tet (W) present in 100% of saliva samples in Italy (Milanovic et al., 2020).…”

“…Eight studies investigated the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in saliva (Card et al., 2014; Chaffanel et al., 2015; Hirose et al., 2019; Kim & Lee, 2015; Menon et al., 2019; Milanovic et al., 2020; Patterson et al., 2007; Zhang & Zhang, 2019). No single tetracycline resistance gene dominated; however, in one study, tet(M) and tet(W) were present in 94% and 100% of the samples, respectively (Milanovic et al., 2020), which is much higher than in root canals and subgingival plaque.…”

Occurrence of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Hermetia illucens Larvae Fed Coffee Silverskin Enriched with Schizochytrium limacinum or Isochrysis galbana Microalgae

“…The samples that were negative for each of the AR genes under study were further subjected to nested PCR assays designed to enhance the gene detection sensitivity, as previously reported by Garofalo et al [31]. The high sensitivity of the latter method was confirmed in recent studies aimed at detecting the same AR genes in different edible insects [14,16,17,19,20] as well as in human stool and saliva samples [30,33].…”

Targeted (PCR-based) screening of antibiotic resistance genes’ prevalence in the gut microbiota of tribal people of Nabarangpur, Odisha, India

“…showed the abundance of ARGs against tetracycline (tetW and tetM) and erythromycin (ermB) in the Italian population. According to the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, screening of ARGs is one of the key objectives for minimizing the incidence of antibiotic resistance (Milanovi c et al 2020). Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of antibiotic resistance genes against macrolides, tetracyclines, b-lactams, fluoroquinolones, vancomycin and sulphonamide using metagenomics, and microarray analysis (Seville et al 2009;Sommer et al 2009;Hu et al 2014;van Schaik.…”