Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
Department of Nutrition and Food Science, California State Polytechnic University Pomona, 3801 West Temple Ave, Pomona, CA 91768, USA.
J Food Prot. 2023 Jul;86(7):100108. doi: 10.1016/j.jfp.2023.100108. Epub 2023 May 25.
Carbapenems are critically important antibiotic agents because they are considered the "last-resort" antibiotics for treating serious infections. However, resistance to carbapenems is increasing throughout the world and has become an urgent problem. Some carbapenem-resistant bacteria are considered urgent threats by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this review, we searched and summarized studies published mostly in the recent five years related to carbapenem resistance in three main areas in the food supply chain: livestock, aquaculture, and fresh produce. We have found that many studies have shown a direct or indirect correlation between carbapenem resistance in the food supply chain and human infections. Our review also revealed the worrisome incidences of the cooccurrence of resistance to carbapenem and other "last-resort" antibiotics, such as colistin and/or tigecycline, in the food supply chain. Antibiotic resistance is a global public health challenge, and more effort related to carbapenem resistance in the food supply chain for different food commodities is still needed in some countries and regions, including the United States. In addition, antibiotic resistance in the food supply chain is a complicated issue. Based on the knowledge from current studies, only restricting the use of antibiotics in food animal production might not be enough. Additional research is needed to determine factors contributing to the introduction and persistence of carbapenem resistance in the food supply chain. Through this review, we hope to provide a better understanding of the current state of carbapenem resistance, and the niches of knowledge that are needed for developing strategies to mitigate antibiotic resistance, especially carbapenem resistance in the food supply chain.
碳青霉烯类抗生素是非常重要的抗生素，因为它们被认为是治疗严重感染的“最后手段”抗生素。然而，碳青霉烯类抗生素的耐药性在全球范围内正在增加，并已成为一个紧迫的问题。美国疾病控制与预防中心认为，一些耐碳青霉烯类的细菌是紧急威胁。在这篇综述中，我们搜索并总结了近五年来主要在食物链的三个领域（牲畜、水产养殖和新鲜农产品）中与碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药性相关的研究。我们发现，许多研究表明，食物链中碳青霉烯类抗生素的耐药性与人类感染之间存在直接或间接的相关性。我们的综述还揭示了令人担忧的情况，即食物链中耐碳青霉烯类抗生素与其他“最后手段”抗生素（如黏菌素和/或替加环素）的耐药性同时存在。抗生素耐药性是一个全球性的公共卫生挑战，在包括美国在内的一些国家和地区，仍需要在不同的食品类别中对食物链中的碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药性进行更多的相关研究。此外，食物链中的抗生素耐药性是一个复杂的问题。基于当前研究的知识，仅限制在食品动物生产中使用抗生素可能还不够。需要进一步的研究来确定导致碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药性在食物链中引入和持续存在的因素。通过本次综述，我们希望更好地了解当前碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药性的状况，以及在制定缓解抗生素耐药性策略方面（特别是在食物链中缓解碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药性）所需的知识缺口。
