Overview Perspective of Bacterial Strategies of Resistance to Biocides and Antibiotics

Abstract

Context: Considerable controversy surrounds the use of biocides in an ever-growing range of consumer products and the eventuality that their indiscriminate consumption might decrease biocide effectiveness and modify susceptibilities to antibiotics. Several line of evidence suggest that exposure to biocides may cause increased antibiotic resistance. Thus, we reviewed the common resistance strategies of bacteria against both biocides and antibiotics. Methods: Several publications have explained the cell target of biocides and the various mechanisms used by bacterial cells to escape biocides' toxic activity. Here, we briefly reviewed the commonly used resistance mechanisms of bacteria against both biocides and antibiotics. Results: Biocides could act on multiple sites in microorganisms and cause resistance by non-specific means. We mentioned several mechanisms such as efflux pumps, cell wall changes to the reduction of permeability, genetic linkage with both biocide resistance genes and antibiotic resistance genes, the penetration/uptake changes in envelope by passive diffusion, effect on the integrity and morphology of membrane, and effects on diverse key steps of bacterial metabolism. Along with this toxic effect and stress, bacterial cells express some similar defense strategies that can overlap the main functions conferring resistance versus structurally nonrelated molecules. Conclusions: It can be stated that healthcare-associated, community-acquired, and nosocomial infections should be surveyed annually. Since biocide-antibiotic cross-resistance can be conferred by a number of distinct mechanisms, it is important to evaluate the propensity of a bacterium to express these mechanisms. Advances in modern genetic methods and the development of an assay using specific chemosensitizers or markers might allow the development of routine tests to identify resistance mechanisms. Further studies are needed to establish a correlation between biocide exposure (s) and development of antibiotic resistance, but the number of studies in the clinical or environmental settings is limited.

Epidemiological Investigation of Salmonella enterica Isolates in Children with Diarrhea in Chengdu, China

“…If cefotaxime is resistant, meropenem is the last option for children who have failed to respond to previous drugs and have developed intracranial infections. Antibiotic resistance in this study reflected the local bacterial drug resistance ecology, which is related to the fact that fungicides can act on multiple sites of microorganisms and cause bacterial drug resistance through nonspecific means (10). Rational drug use should be very urgent.…”

“…Salmonella has a high inci-dence in African children, partly due to risk factors, such as human immunodeficiency virus, severe malaria, anemia, and malnutrition (9). When fungicides are used to prevent and treat disease, bacterial cells have various mechanisms to evade the toxic activity of fungicides, thereby reducing their effectiveness and ultimately leading to increased drug resistance (10). Antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella is another serious public health problem that seriously affects the successful treatment of Salmonella infections.…”

Effect of the Combination of Levofloxacin with Cationic Carbosilane Dendron and Peptide in the Prevention and Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

“…In the last century, infectious diseases have been caused by bacteria with specific pathogenic mechanisms and antibiotic and vaccine developments against pathogenic microorganisms have achieved a remarkable efficiency in their control. However, nowadays, the remarkable adaptation mechanisms of pathogenic bacteria have generated diverse defense mechanisms against antibiotics, which cause a severe global threat to public health [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for new antibacterial drugs.…”

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“…and the Enterobacteriaceae) is the main problem in medicine. In these organisms, three-component multidrug efflux systems play important roles in both intrinsic and acquired multi-resistance [4].…”