Impact of Pediococcus acidilactici and tylvalosin on porcine Enterobacterales abundance, antimicrobial resistance and conjugative potential.
Turcotte A, Poulin-Laprade D, Saucier L, Lemieux J, Gagnon N
Soil Health
Pig manure is spread on farm fields as fertilizer, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from those fields can contaminate soil, water, and ultimately the vegetables and fruit you buy at the market.
Scientists gave pigs either a probiotic supplement, a livestock antibiotic, or both, then measured how many drug-resistant bacteria lived in their guts. The probiotic did reduce some harmful resistant bacteria, but it also made other resistant bacteria spread more easily between microbes — a kind of whack-a-mole problem. The antibiotic actually made a different type of resistant bacteria grow more, showing that even 'targeted' treatments can have surprising ripple effects throughout the gut.
Key Findings
The probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici reduced cefotaxime-resistant gut bacteria by 1.5 log units (roughly 97%) compared to untreated pigs.
Despite fewer resistant bacteria, pigs given only the probiotic showed higher rates of resistance gene transfer between bacteria, potentially accelerating resistance spread.
The antibiotic tylvalosin caused a 2-log (100-fold) increase in kanamycin-resistant bacteria, demonstrating significant unintended cross-resistance effects.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers tested whether a probiotic (a beneficial live bacteria) and a common livestock antibiotic could reduce antibiotic-resistant bacteria in pig guts. The probiotic reduced some resistant bacteria but also triggered unexpected side effects, including increasing the spread of resistance to other antibiotics.
Abstract Preview
Antimicrobial resistance impacts the health of humans, animals, and plants, as well as the metabolic functions supported by environmental microbiomes. Mitigation approaches against this global cris...
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