Antibiotic resistance : 76 new genes identified

pressmaster/epictura

Published the 16.10.2017 at 14: 25

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antibiorésistanceantibiotiquegène

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a ticking time bomb. The world is becoming more and more aware. Each year it causes 25 000 deaths in Europe. But the magnitude of the threat may well have been under-estimated, according to a study published in Microbiome.

A team of researchers from the university of Gothenburg (Sweden) and the Ecole polytechnique, Chalmers (Sweden) has identified more than 70 genes involved in antibiotic resistance. They had never been spotted until now.

Antibiotics under surveillance

If these genes have remained unnoticed, but they are ubiquitous. The authors of these works have, in effect, conducted their analyses on samples of bacterial DNA samples in the world. Rivers, wells, soil, intestinal flora… The environment in the broad sense was the basis of the researchers. And the results are surprising.

Thanks to a mathematical model, the Swedes have put their hands on 76 genes involved in resistance to carbapenems. These antibiotics, very effective, are subject to increased monitoring. And for good reason : they are often used as a last resort against infections that are multi-resistant.

They are so precious that the commission of the anti-infective of the public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP) has issued recommendations for good practice in their subject. In order to limit the emergence of resistance, the commission invited them to make ” a reasoned and as limited as possible of the four molecules available to the class, comparing their respective benefits and specifying their terms of use and their indications in clinical practice, as well as the possible alternatives “.

Alternatives

The concern is further justified by the fact that, among the genes identified, several provide the bacteria the ability to degrade the carbapenems. The laboratory tests carried out on the bacterium E. coli, have confirmed this.

The team will now start work to identify genes promoting resistance against other classes of antibiotics. “The more we know about how bacteria defend themselves against antibiotics, the more we will increase our chances of developing effective drugs,” says Joakim Larsson, who has carried out this work. In fact, such discoveries can guide the development of new molecules.

Because finding alternatives to current antibiotics is the urgency. In France, antibiotic resistance causes 13 000 deaths per year. By 2050, it could cause 10 million deaths, according to a british study.

>> See our fact sheet : Antibiotics, judicious use avoids the development of resistance