Cooking food thoroughly and avoiding some types of vegetables and salad during a course of antibiotic treatment could potentially reduce antibiotic resistance, by preventing bacteria carrying resistance genes getting into the gut, according to a new study. New research from the University of Nottingham has modeled how antibiotic resistance genes build-up through lifetime exposure from food intake and antibiotic treatment. The research published in PLOS ONE gives new insights into long term increase in resistance genes in gut bacteria and how this could be prevented.
Antimicrobial resistant bacterial infections represent one of the most serious contemporary global health care crises. Acquisition and spread of resistant infections can occur through community, hospitals, food, water or bacteria that lives inside us or that we may be exposed to-like E. coli. The research modeled data from a previous study that found antibiotic gene diversity in gut microbiota is age related. The Nottingham study shows that the long-term increase in resistance in human gut microbiomes can be substantially lowered by reducing exposure to resistance genes found in food and water, alongside reduced medical antibiotic use. The research suggests that reducing intake of resistance genes is particularly effective during periods of antibiotic treatment where there is an increased risk of the retainment of genes. The researchers suggest that dietary advice should be given to those undergoing antibiotic treatment to avoid products at higher risk of carrying ARGs, as well as ensuring that all food consumed during treatment is fully cooked.
By University of Nottingham
Article can be accessed on: phys.org