Identification of antibiotic pairs that evade concurrent resistance via a retrospective analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility test results
- PMID:34632433
- PMCID: PMC8496867
- DOI: 10.1016/s2666-5247(21)00118-x
Identification of antibiotic pairs that evade concurrent resistance via a retrospective analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility test results
Abstract
Background: Some antibiotic pairs display a property known as collateral sensitivity in which the evolution of resistance to one antibiotic increases sensitivity to the other. Alternating between collaterally sensitive antibiotics has been proposed as a sustainable solution to the problem of antibiotic resistance. We aimed to identify antibiotic pairs that could be considered for treatment strategies based on alternating antibiotics.
Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of 448 563 antimicrobial susceptibility test results acquired over a 4-year period (Jan 1, 2015, to Dec 31, 2018) from 23 hospitals in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) hospital system. We used a score based on mutual information to identify pairs of antibiotics displaying disjoint resistance, wherein resistance to one antibiotic is commonly associated with susceptibility to the other and vice versa. We applied this approach to the six most frequently isolated bacterial pathogens (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, andProteus mirabilis) and subpopulations of each created by conditioning on resistance to individual antibiotics. To identify higher-order antibiotic interactions, we predicted rates of multidrug resistance for triplets of antibiotics using Markov random fields and compared these to the observed rates.
Findings: We identified 69 antibiotic pairs displaying varying degrees of disjoint resistance for subpopulations of the six bacterial species. However, disjoint resistance was rarely conserved at the species level, with only 6 (0·7%) of 875 antibiotic pairs showing evidence of disjoint resistance. Instead, more than half of antibiotic pairs (465 [53·1%] of 875) exhibited signatures of concurrent resistance, whereby resistance to one antibiotic is associated with resistance to another. We found concurrent resistance to extend to more than two antibiotics, with observed rates of resistance to three antibiotics being higher than predicted from pairwise information alone.
Interpretation: The high frequency of concurrent resistance shows that bacteria have means of counteracting multiple antibiotics at a time. The almost complete absence of disjoint resistance at the species level implies that treatment strategies based on alternating between antibiotics might require subspecies level pathogen identification and be limited to a few antibiotic pairings.
Funding: US National Institutes of Health.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests. Data sharing Individual participant data is not sharable due to University of Pittsburgh institutional review board restrictions. Aggregated resistance data for the pairs and triplets of antibiotics analysed in this study are provided in appendix 2.
Figures





Comment in
- Identification of antibiotic pairs with disjoint resistance: innovative progress made but questions remain.Zhang H, Cai Y.Zhang H, et al.Lancet Microbe. 2021 Dec;2(12):e651. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00274-3. Epub 2021 Oct 28.Lancet Microbe. 2021.PMID:35544103No abstract available.
- Identification of antibiotic pairs with disjoint resistance: innovative progress made but questions remain.Nuckchady DC.Nuckchady DC.Lancet Microbe. 2021 Dec;2(12):e652. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00276-7. Epub 2021 Oct 28.Lancet Microbe. 2021.PMID:35544104No abstract available.
- Identification of antibiotic pairs with disjoint resistance: innovative progress made but questions remain - Authors' reply.Wright ES, Beckley A.Wright ES, et al.Lancet Microbe. 2021 Dec;2(12):e653. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00281-0. Epub 2021 Oct 28.Lancet Microbe. 2021.PMID:35544105No abstract available.
- No collateral antibiotic sensitivity by alternating antibiotic pairs.Ma Y, Chua SL.Ma Y, et al.Lancet Microbe. 2022 Jan;3(1):e7. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00270-6. Epub 2021 Nov 15.Lancet Microbe. 2022.PMID:35544116No abstract available.
Similar articles
- Patterns of Drug-Resistant Bacteria in a General Hospital, China, 2011-2016.Mao T, Zhai H, Duan G, Yang H.Mao T, et al.Pol J Microbiol. 2019;68(2):225-232. doi: 10.33073/pjm-2019-024.Pol J Microbiol. 2019.PMID:31250593Free PMC article.
- [Surveillance of resistance in the intensive care units using a cumulative antibiogram].Yürüyen C, Daldaban Dinçer Ş, Yanılmaz Ö, Boz ES, Aksaray S.Yürüyen C, et al.Mikrobiyol Bul. 2018 Oct;52(4):329-339. doi: 10.5578/mb.67408.Mikrobiyol Bul. 2018.PMID:30522419Turkish.
- [Analysis of distribution and drug resistance of pathogens from the wounds of 1 310 thermal burn patients].Zhang C, Gong YL, Luo XQ, Liu MX, Peng YZ.Zhang C, et al.Zhonghua Shao Shang Za Zhi. 2018 Nov 20;34(11):802-808. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1009-2587.2018.11.016.Zhonghua Shao Shang Za Zhi. 2018.PMID:30481922Chinese.
- Literature review on the distribution characteristics and antimicrobial resistance of bacterial pathogens in neonatal sepsis.Wang J, Zhang H, Yan J, Zhang T.Wang J, et al.J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2022 Mar;35(5):861-870. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2020.1732342. Epub 2020 Feb 26.J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2022.PMID:32102584Review.
- Ecology and evolution of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial communities.Bottery MJ, Pitchford JW, Friman VP.Bottery MJ, et al.ISME J. 2021 Apr;15(4):939-948. doi: 10.1038/s41396-020-00832-7. Epub 2020 Nov 20.ISME J. 2021.PMID:33219299Free PMC article.Review.
Cited by
- Quantifying the Relationship between Antibiotic Use in Food-Producing Animals and Antibiotic Resistance in Humans.Emes D, Naylor N, Waage J, Knight G.Emes D, et al.Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Jan 6;11(1):66. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11010066.Antibiotics (Basel). 2022.PMID:35052943Free PMC article.
- Translating eco-evolutionary biology into therapy to tackle antibiotic resistance.Sanz-García F, Gil-Gil T, Laborda P, Blanco P, Ochoa-Sánchez LE, Baquero F, Martínez JL, Hernando-Amado S.Sanz-García F, et al.Nat Rev Microbiol. 2023 Oct;21(10):671-685. doi: 10.1038/s41579-023-00902-5. Epub 2023 May 19.Nat Rev Microbiol. 2023.PMID:37208461Review.
- Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) can overcome the cost of antibiotic resistance and may threaten vancomycin's clinical durability.Blechman SE, Wright ES.Blechman SE, et al.PLoS Pathog. 2024 Aug 29;20(8):e1012422. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012422. eCollection 2024 Aug.PLoS Pathog. 2024.PMID:39207957Free PMC article.
- A study of antibiotic resistance pattern of clinical bacterial pathogens isolated from patients in a tertiary care hospital.Handa VL, Patel BN, Bhattacharya DA, Kothari RK, Kavathia DG, Vyas BRM.Handa VL, et al.Front Microbiol. 2024 Apr 17;15:1383989. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1383989. eCollection 2024.Front Microbiol. 2024.PMID:38694800Free PMC article.
- Bayesian network modeling of patterns of antibiotic cross-resistance by bacterial sample source.Cherny SS, Chowers M, Obolski U.Cherny SS, et al.Commun Med (Lond). 2023 May 2;3(1):61. doi: 10.1038/s43856-023-00289-7.Commun Med (Lond). 2023.PMID:37130943Free PMC article.
References
- van Duijn PJ, Verbrugghe W, Jorens PG, et al. The effects of antibiotic cycling and mixing on antibiotic resistance in intensive care units: a cluster-randomised crossover trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2018; 18: 401–09. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Research Materials