抗生素的不当使用被广泛认为是细菌抗生素耐药性的主要驱动因素。然而,对通过暴露于消毒剂可能诱导多重耐药细菌的关注较少。在这项研究中,肺炎克雷伯菌,一种通常与医院和社区获得性感染相关的机会性病原体,在实验上暴露于NaClO的最小抑制浓度(MIC)和亚MIC水平超过60天。结果表明,NaClO暴露导致肺炎克雷伯菌对NaClO本身和五种抗生素(红霉素,多粘菌素B,庆大霉素,四环素,和环丙沙星)。同时,进化的抗性菌株表现出适应成本,增长率下降证明了这一点。整个人群测序显示,两种浓度的NaClO暴露都会导致肺炎克雷伯菌基因组中的基因突变。已知这些突变中的一些与抗生素抗性有关,而其他人以前没有被确定为这样。此外,11个鉴定的突变位于毒力因子中,证明NaClO暴露也可能影响肺炎克雷伯菌的致病性。总的来说,这项研究强调了在COVID-19大流行期间广泛使用含NaClO的消毒剂可能导致抗生素抗性细菌的出现.环境含义:考虑到消毒剂残留对环境的潜在危险影响,生物和生物多样性,在COVID-19大流行期间,消毒剂的使用急剧增加,被认为极有可能在生态系统和人类健康中引起全球次生灾害。这项研究表明,NaClO暴露可增强肺炎克雷伯菌对NaClO和五种抗生素(红霉素,多粘菌素B,庆大霉素,四环素,和环丙沙星),强调在COVID-19大流行期间广泛使用含NaClO的消毒剂可能会增加环境中抗生素抗性细菌的出现。
The inappropriate use of antibiotics is widely recognized as the primary driver of bacterial antibiotic resistance. However, less attention has been given to the potential induction of multidrug-resistant bacteria through exposure to disinfectants. In this study, Klebsiella pneumonia, an opportunistic pathogen commonly associated with hospital and community-acquired infection, was experimentally exposed to NaClO at both minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and sub-MIC levels over a period of 60 days. The result demonstrated that NaClO exposure led to enhanced resistance of K. pneumonia to both NaClO itself and five antibiotics (erythromycin, polymyxin B, gentamicin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin). Concurrently, the evolved resistant strains exhibited fitness costs, as evidenced by decreased growth rates. Whole population sequencing revealed that both concentrations of NaClO exposure caused genetic mutations in the genome of K. pneumonia. Some of these mutations were known to be associated with antibiotic resistance, while others had not previously been identified as such. In addition, 11 identified mutations were located in the virulence factors, demonstrating that NaClO exposure may also impact the pathogenicity of K. pneumoniae. Overall, this study highlights the potential for the widespread use of NaClO-containing disinfectants during the COVID-19 pandemic to contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATION: Considering the potential hazardous effects of disinfectant residues on environment, organisms and biodiversity, the sharp rise in use of disinfectants during COVID-19 pandemic has been considered highly likely to cause worldwide secondary disasters in ecosystems and human health. This study demonstrated that NaClO exposure enhanced the resistance of K. pneumonia to both NaClO and five antibiotics (erythromycin, polymyxin B, gentamicin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin), highlighting the widespread use of NaClO-containing disinfectants during the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment.