Blázquez Jesus, Oliver Antonio, Gómez-Gómez José-María
Molecular Microbiology Unit, Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
Curr Drug Targets. 2002 Aug;3(4):345-9. doi: 10.2174/1389450023347579.
Antibiotic resistance appearance and spread have been classically considered the result of a process of natural selection, directed by the use of antibiotics. Bacteria, that have to face the antibiotic challenge, evolve to acquire resistance and, under this strong selective pressure, only the fittest survive, leading to the spread of resistance mechanisms and resistant clones. Horizontal transference of resistance mechanisms seems to be the main way of antibiotic resistance acquisition. Nevertheless, recent findings on hypermutability and antibiotic-induced hypermutation in bacteria have modified the landscape. Here, we present a review of the last data on molecular mechanisms of hypermutability in bacteria and their relationship with the acquisition of antibiotic resistance. Finally, we discuss the possibility that antibiotics may act not only as selectors for antibiotic resistant bacteria but also as resistance promoters.
抗生素耐药性的出现和传播一直被经典地认为是由抗生素使用所引导的自然选择过程的结果。必须面对抗生素挑战的细菌会进化以获得耐药性，在这种强大的选择压力下，只有最适应的细菌才能存活，从而导致耐药机制和耐药克隆的传播。耐药机制的水平转移似乎是获得抗生素耐药性的主要方式。然而，最近关于细菌超突变性和抗生素诱导超突变的研究结果改变了这一局面。在此，我们综述了关于细菌超突变性分子机制的最新数据及其与抗生素耐药性获得的关系。最后，我们讨论了抗生素不仅可能作为抗生素耐药细菌的选择剂，而且可能作为耐药促进剂的可能性。
