Researchers Warn Against a New Hiding Place for Antibiotic Resistance

(Newswire.net — June 27, 2022) Orlando, FL — On a global scale, antibiotic resistance is found to affect and kill more and more people. Scientists are increasingly carrying out studies to look into the techniques potentially useful in lessening its prevalence. 

A Danish research team has found a new piece of the puzzle that can be helpful in better understanding the enemy. 

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have revealed that there is a need to have significant modifications to the prevailing assumption that resistance bacteria lose their capability of resistance when antibiotics are not present. 

“One widespread strategy to combat antibiotic resistance has been to use antibiotics for a period of time and then take a break. The belief is that resistant bacteria will lose their resistance genes or be outcompeted during the break, after which the antibiotics will work again. But that approach doesn’t seem to hold up,” says one of the study’s senior authors, Associate Professor Mette Burmølle of the Department of Biology.

“Our study demonstrates that resistance genes are able to hide in inactive bacteria, where they form a hidden reserve of resistance that bacteria can rely on. In other words, they don’t just disappear when antibiotics aren’t around,” co-first author Henriette Lyng Røder elaborates.

It is important to note that a majority of bacteria live and interact in what is identified as biofilms. These are microbial communities that are encased in a matrix of mucus they form, often on the surface of a material. 

Biofilms can actually be found everywhere from plants to plaque on the teeth, to stones to implants, and are found to contain both active and inactive bacteria.

What is interesting is that the mucus and hibernation of inactive bacteria make biofilms a fortress that has the ability to withstand large amounts of antibiotics. 

There have been a number of research studies that looked into the various aspects of antibiotic resistance. It is worth noting that time and again researchers have said that some measures to lessen the need for antibiotics are extremely helpful.

Warding off UTIs, which are primarily treated with the medication, is essential. There are remedies like D-mannose widely used nowadays as a preventive treatment against the infection. It is also important to note that this remedy is also resorted to by individuals with recurrent infections.

There are superior-strength formulas like Divine Bounty D-mannose widely used by individuals with UTIs today. This therapeutic supplement is even resorted to as a safer alternative to antibiotics (http://www.amazon.com/D-Mannose-600mg-Cranberry-Dandelion-Extract/dp/B01LX5KGF0).