Antibiotic combinations that exploit heteroresistance to multiple drugs effectively control infection.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a significant threat to human health, with one estimate suggesting they will cause 10 million worldwide deaths per year by 2050, surpassing deaths due to cancer¹. Because new antibiotic development can take a decade or longer, it is imperative to effectively use currently available drugs. Antibiotic combination therapy offers promise for treating highly resistant bacterial infections, but the factors governing the sporadic efficacy of such regimens have remained unclear. Dogma suggests that antibiotics ineffective as monotherapy can be effective in combination². Here, using carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) clinical isolates, we reveal the underlying basis for the majority of effective combinations to be heteroresistance.

SUBMITTER: Band VI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7205309 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature