Adkin, P., Hitchcock, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-6572-434X, Smith, L.J. et al. (1 more author) (2022) Priming with biocides: a pathway to antibiotic resistance? Journal of Applied Microbiology, 133 (2). pp. 830-841. ISSN 1364-5072
Abstract
Aims
To investigate the priming effects of sub-inhibitory concentrations of biocides on antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
Methods and results
Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were exposed to sub-inhibitory concentrations of biocides via a gradient plate method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and antibiotic susceptibility were determined, and efflux pump inhibitors (thioridazine and chlorpromazine) were used to investigate antibiotic resistance mechanism(s).
Escherichia coli displayed a 2-fold increase in MIC (32 to 64 mg l-1) to H2O2 which was stable after 15 passages, but lost after 6 weeks, and P. aeruginosa displayed a 2-fold increase in MIC (64 to 128 mg l-1) to BZK which was also stable for 15 passages. There were no other tolerances observed to biocides in E. coli, P. aeruginosa or S. aureus, however stable cross-resistance to antibiotics was observed in the absence of a stable increased tolerance to biocides. Six-fold increases in MIC to cephalothin and four-fold to ceftriaxone and ampicillin were observed in hydrogen peroxide primed E. coli. Chlorhexidine primed S. aureus showed a four-fold increase in MIC to oxacillin, and glutaraldehyde-primed P. aeruginosa showed four-fold (sulphatriad) and eight-fold (ciprofloxacin) increases in MIC. Thioridazine increased the susceptibility of E. coli to cephalothin and cefoxitin by four and two-fold respectively, and both thioridazine and chlorpromazine increased the susceptibility S. aureus to oxacillin by eight and four-fold respectively.
Conclusions
These findings demonstrate that sub-inhibitory concentrations of biocides can prime bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics even in the absence of stable biocide tolerance and suggests activation of efflux mechanisms may be a contributory factor.
Significance and impact of the study
This study demonstrates the effects of low-level exposure of biocides (priming) on antibiotic resistance even in the absence of obvious increased biocidal tolerance.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Applied Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for Applied Microbiology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Apr 2022 15:22 |
Last Modified: | 10 Feb 2023 14:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/jam.15564 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:186117 |