Veggies Carry Superbugs That Can Harm Human Gut

Not just animal meat, even plant-based foods can transmit antibiotic-resistant bacteria to your gut microbiome, finds a new study.

Meats are considered the chief carrier of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but a new study finds that it could also be transmitted to humans through the consumption of plant foods, which may pose health risks for the general public. The findings of the study are presented at the American Society for Microbiology meeting.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that of the two million antibiotic-resistant infections per year in the country, 20 percent are linked to agriculture.

Cranberries to Curb Antibiotic Resistance
Cranberry extract makes bacteria more sensitive to antibiotics, a promising avenue for limiting resistance to these important drugs.

‘Antibiotic-resistant infections remain a threat to global public health, food safety, and an economic burden. Hence, to prevent these infections, it is critical to understand how antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their genes are transmitted from both meat and plant-foods.’
Read More..

This estimate is based on patients who directly acquire antibiotic-resistant superbugs from eating meat.

"Our findings highlight the importance of tackling food-borne antibiotic-resistance from a complete food chain perspective that includes plant-foods in addition to meat," said Marlene Maeusli from Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers developed a novel, lettuce-mouse model system that does not cause immediate illness to mimic the consumption of superbugs with plant-foods.

Manuka Honey Kills Drug-resistant Bacteria in Genetic Disease
Manuka honey could provide the breakthrough treatment for cystic fibrosis patients who suffer from frequent infections.

They grew lettuce, exposed it to antibiotic-resistant E. coli, fed it to the mice, and analyzed their fecal samples over time.

"We found differences in the ability of bacteria to silently colonize the gut after ingestion, depending on a variety of host and bacterial factors," said Maeusli.

New Treatment for Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
The process of removing antibodies from the blood stream, helps to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria and reduces the effects of chronic infections.

"We mimicked antibiotic and antacid treatments, as both could affect the ability of superbugs to survive the passage from the stomach to the intestines."

Little has been done till date to determine how eating plants contributes to the spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

On-chip Drug Screening Identifies Antibiotic Resistance
A new microfluidic-based drug screening chip was found to identify synergistic interactions between two antibiotics in eight hours.

Spread of antibiotic-resistant superbugs from plants to humans is different from outbreaks of diarrheal illnesses caused immediately after eating contaminated vegetables.

Superbugs can asymptomatically hide in or "colonize" the intestines for months or even years, when they then escape the intestine and cause an infection, such as a urinary infection.

"We continue to seek the plant characteristics and host factors that result in key microbial community shifts in the gut that put us at risk for colonization and those that prevent it," said the researchers at the meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

Source-IANS