Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2011 Oct;14(5):556-63. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2011.07.005. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
Since the discovery and clinical application of antibiotics, pathogens and the human microbiota have faced a near continuous exposure to these selective agents. A well-established consequence of this exposure is the evolution of multidrug-resistant pathogens, which can become virtually untreatable. Less appreciated are the concomitant changes in the human microbiome in response to these assaults and their contribution to clinical resistance problems. Studies have shown that pervasive changes to the human microbiota result from antibiotic treatment and that resistant strains can persist for years. Additionally, culture-independent functional characterization of the resistance genes from the microbiome has demonstrated a close evolutionary relationship between resistance genes in the microbiome and in pathogens. Application of these techniques and novel cultivation methods are expected to significantly expand our understanding of the interplay between antibiotics and the microbiome.
自抗生素的发现和临床应用以来，病原体和人类微生物群一直面临着这些选择性药物的持续暴露。这种暴露的一个既定后果是多药耐药病原体的进化，这些病原体几乎无法治疗。不太被重视的是，人类微生物组也会相应地发生变化，以应对这些攻击，并对临床耐药问题做出贡献。研究表明，抗生素治疗会导致人类微生物组的普遍变化，而且耐药菌株可以持续多年存在。此外，对微生物组中耐药基因的非培养功能特征进行鉴定表明，微生物组和病原体中的耐药基因之间存在密切的进化关系。这些技术和新的培养方法的应用有望极大地扩展我们对抗生素和微生物组之间相互作用的理解。
