Healthy newborn babies are not at higher risk than adults of being colonised by antimicrobial-resistant gut bacteria in hospital, a new study has found.
Researchers analysed the gut bacteria of more than 300 newborn babies from the UK Baby Biome study and found the make-up of their microbiomes did not contain multi-drug resistant strains of common hospital pathogens, such as Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
The new study, led by teams from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Helsinki, the University of Oslo, and collaborators and published in Nature Communications, also uncovered several synergistic relationships between different bacteria that compete against more harmful species such as Escherichia coli (E. coli).
This, they suggest, means it could be possible to enhance these relationships to outcompete resistant or more harmful bacterial strains, rather than relying new drug development to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance and other drug-resistant bacteria.
This is the first time it has been possible to derive a population-based estimate of how virulent a particular strain of E. coli is, which has allowed researchers to focus on understanding and preventing the most immediate threats.
Surprising interactions
Analysing their microbiomes through faecal samples, the researchers were able to see how the microbiome develops, including the interactions between different bacteria.
They used new high-resolution metagenomics to map pathogenic bacteria in the microbiomes of more than 300 newborn babies.
The researchers found several – and surprising – interactions where pathogenic bacteria existed in harmony with each other, as well as examples where they could colonise alongside each other.
They found multi-drug resistant strains of common pathogenic bacteria, such as Klebsiella lineages, were not found in healthy newborn babies, despite some of them staying at the hospital for many days.
This observation was the same for all babies, regardless of how they were delivered.
Combining the high-resolution colonisation profiles with data from previous work, such as the Baby Biome study and the BSAC4 and NORM5 bloodstream infection cohort studies, researchers were also, for the first time, able to estimate the pathogenic potential of different strains of E. coli bacteria.
Dr Trevor Lawley, study author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “The gut microbiome is a potential therapeutic resource that could interact with and possibly help with things such as drug delivery, bowel conditions, and multidrug-resistant infections.
“Our finding that babies leave the hospital mostly without multi-drug resistant bacteria shows that these strains cannot colonise our guts at all stages of life. Understanding what protects healthy babies against this could lead to a new way of treating infections, which enhances the microbiome to protect against, or push out, these virulent strains from the gut as a way of reducing the risk of infection and spread of drug resistant pathogens.”
Professor Jukka Corander, senior author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Oslo and the University of Helsinki, added: “Our study is the first time that it has been possible to map the relationships between pathogenic bacteria and accurately estimate virulence at the strain level.
“This research signposts the most present threats so that we can concentrate on tracking and stopping the spread of antimicrobial resistance. It also gives insight into the development of virulence; for example, the most virulent E. coli strain only appeared around 50 years ago – and understanding how it evolved genetically could help us stop this from happening in the future.”
Nature Communications 19 December 2022
Leave a Reply