Meradji Sameh, Basher Nosiba S, Sassi Asma, Ibrahim Nasir Adam, Idres Takfarinas, Touati Abdelaziz
Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, Mohamed-Cherif Messaadia University, Souk Ahras 41000, Algeria.
Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13318, Saudi Arabia.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2025 Jul 29;14(8):763. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics14080763.
Water systems serve as multifaceted environmental pools for antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and resistance genes (ARGs), influencing human, animal, and ecosystem health. This review synthesizes current understanding of how antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs enter surface, ground, and drinking waters via wastewater discharge, agricultural runoff, hospital effluents, and urban stormwater. We highlight key mechanisms of biofilm formation, horizontal gene transfer, and co-selection by chemical stressors that facilitate persistence and spread. Case studies illustrate widespread detection of clinically meaningful ARB (e.g., , , ) and mobile ARGs (e.g., , , variants) in treated effluents, recycled water, and irrigation return flows. The interplay between treatment inefficiencies and environmental processes underscores the need for advanced treatment technologies, integrated monitoring, and policy interventions. Addressing these challenges is critical to curbing the environmental dissemination of resistance and protecting human and ecosystem health.
水系统是抗生素抗性细菌（ARB）和抗性基因（ARG）的多方面环境库，影响着人类、动物和生态系统健康。本综述综合了目前对于抗生素、ARB和ARG如何通过废水排放、农业径流、医院污水和城市雨水进入地表水、地下水和饮用水的理解。我们强调了生物膜形成、水平基因转移以及化学应激源共同选择等关键机制，这些机制促进了抗性细菌和抗性基因的持久性和传播。案例研究表明，在处理后的污水、再生水和灌溉回流中广泛检测到具有临床意义的ARB（例如 ， ， ）和可移动ARG（例如 ， ， 变体）。处理效率低下与环境过程之间的相互作用凸显了先进处理技术、综合监测和政策干预的必要性。应对这些挑战对于遏制抗性的环境传播以及保护人类和生态系统健康至关重要。
