Beijing Key Laboratory of Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua, Suzhou, 215163, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2018 Aug;25(22):21467-21482. doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-2507-z. Epub 2018 Jun 12.
Antibiotic resistance has become a widely concerned issue due to the huge risk on the ecological environment and human health. China has the highest production and consumption of antibiotics than other countries. Thus, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been detected in various environmental settings (e.g., surface water, wastewater, sediment) in China. The occurrence of ARGs in these matrixes was summarized and discussed in this review. Sulfonamide resistance genes and tetracycline resistance genes were the most frequently detected ARGs in China. According to the abundance of these two classes of ARGs in the natural environment, sulfonamide resistance genes seem to be more stable than tetracycline resistance genes. Furthermore, the relationships between ARGs and antibiotics, antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB), heavy metals, and environmental parameters (e.g., pH, organics) were also investigated. Specifically, relative abundance of total ARGs was found to correlate well with concentration of total antibiotics in aqueous phase but not in the solid phase (soil, sediment, sludge, and manure). As for relationship between ARGs and ARB, metals, and environmental parameters in different media, due to complex and variable environment, some exhibit positive correlation, some negative, while others no correlation at all. Three potential risks are discussed in the text: transmission to human, synergistic effect of different ARGs, and variability of ARGs. However, due to the complexity of the environment, more work is needed to establish a quantitative approach of ARG risk assessment, which can provide a theoretical support for the management of antibiotics and the protection of human health.
由于抗生素耐药性对生态环境和人类健康存在巨大风险，因此已成为一个备受关注的问题。中国的抗生素生产量和消费量均高于其他国家，因此在中国的各种环境介质（如地表水、废水、沉积物）中都检测到了抗生素耐药基因（ARGs）。本综述对这些基质中 ARGs 的发生情况进行了总结和讨论。在中国，磺胺类耐药基因和四环素耐药基因是最常检测到的 ARGs。根据这两类 ARGs 在自然环境中的丰度，磺胺类耐药基因似乎比四环素耐药基因更稳定。此外，还研究了 ARGs 与抗生素、抗生素耐药菌（ARB）、重金属和环境参数（如 pH 值、有机物）之间的关系。具体而言，发现总 ARGs 的相对丰度与水相中的总抗生素浓度密切相关，但与固相（土壤、沉积物、污泥和粪便）中的抗生素浓度无关。至于不同介质中 ARGs 与 ARB、金属和环境参数之间的关系，由于环境复杂多变，有些呈正相关，有些呈负相关，有些则没有相关性。文中讨论了三种潜在风险：向人类传播、不同 ARGs 的协同作用以及 ARGs 的可变性。然而，由于环境的复杂性，需要做更多的工作来建立 ARG 风险评估的定量方法，为抗生素管理和人类健康保护提供理论支持。
