Researchers in Australia have conducted a study showing that commonly used anomalous sweeteners can stimulate the release of antibiotic-resistant genes in the womb.
The study found that the sweeteners saccharine, sucralose, aspartame, and potassium acesulfame all promoted horizontal transfer of the genes between bacteria in environmental and clinical settings.
Sweeteners accelerate the exchange of anti-antibiotic genes (ARGs) through a process called conjugation. The genes are transferred from donor to recipient bacteria, which could then go on to develop multidrug resistance, says Zhigang Yu and colleagues from the University of Queensland in St. Louis. Lucia, Brisbane.
Writing in The ISME Journal, the team says the findings give us an insight into antimicrobial resistance and highlight the potential danger of the presence of these sweeteners in food. is a drink.
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Currently, 700,000 people worldwide die from diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year. It is estimated that 10 million people will die from such diseases by 2050 if no immediate action is taken.
Exposure of ARGs caused by immune bacteria is usually due to misuse or misuse of antibiotics.
The spread of ARG among different bacterial species is largely controlled by a process called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Concentration is an HGT mechanism that transfers ARGs carried on mobile genetic elements such as plasmids from one bacterial cell to another. The ARGs are transported through a pilot or pore channel that binds the host and the receiving bacteria.
Where do sweeteners come in?
Although non-regular sweeteners have been developed and promoted as safe food supplements that allow individuals to avoid the ill effects of sugar consumption, some commonly used sweeteners have been associated with health risks.
For example, in vitro studies have shown that the sweeteners saccharin (SAC), sucralose (SUC), and aspartame (ASP) can stimulate the formation of urinary bladder tumors.
These sweeteners are also associated with glucose intolerance, which is thought to come through changes in the microbiota of the gut.
Studies have also provided evidence that SAC, SUC, and ASP, as well as potassium acesulfame (ACE-K), cause DNA damage in bacteria. The researchers say this is likely to activate the DNA damage response system (SOS response).
In addition, evidence suggests that ARG correlation shift may be related to the SOS response.
Recent studies have also shown that the use of SAC, SUC, and ASP is associated with mutations in the gut microbiota that are similar to those induced by antibiotics.
“Because antibiotics can stimulate the release of ARG, we speculate that these non-regulatory sweeteners may have a similar effect,” Yu and the team wrote.
What did the researchers do?
The team used three model coupling systems to investigate whether SAC, SUC, ASP, and ACE-K induce plasmid-mediated media movement in both environmental and clinical settings.
The binding process was also observed at the single-cell stage using microfluidics and confocal microscopy.
The researchers analyzed whole-genome RNA sequence and measured changes in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, SOS response, and cell membrane permeability.
What did they find?
The four sweeteners were found to stimulate mid-plasmid motility between the same bacteria and different phylogenetic sequences.
Bacteria exposed to these fertilizers showed an increase in ROS production, SOS response, and ARG gene mutation at environmentally and clinically relevant concentrations.
Cell membrane recombination, especially the donor, played an important role in the frequency of cell proliferation.
When the reactivation of the donor cell (but not the bacteria that received it) was increased, a significant increase in sensitive movement was observed. When the recipient (but not the donor) cell reabsorption was increased, no significant change was observed in sensitive movement.
“It was reported that, in the ARGn movement, donors with a high sense of the connection devices were shown to be connected to recipients with very little uptake,” said Yu and colleagues. “Therefore, increased donor contamination could lead to increased ARG transfer to the recipient and lead to increased frequency of helpful transfusion. ”
What is the impact of the study?
The researchers say studies have previously shown that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can be hotspots for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and ARGs caused by HGT among native bacterial species.
Given that the concentrations of non-regulatory sweeteners used in this study were environmentally relevant, it is reasonable to assume that when exposed to these fertilizers, the frequency of ARGs movement would be induced in WWTP, the team says.
“It is possible that these sweeteners could spread ARG in the WWTPs, thus enabling further development of antibiotic resistance in downstream environmental bacteria,” wrote Yu and colleagues.
“Considering how these sweeteners will be heavily deployed in the food industry (more than 117,000 metric tonnes consumed worldwide), our findings are a wake-up call to begin the process of ‘evaluation of potentially antibiotic-like functions by non-regulatory sweeteners,” the team concludes.