Nitric oxide (NO) elicits aminoglycoside tolerance in Escherichia coli but antibiotic resistance gene carriage and NO sensitivity have not co-evolved.

ABSTRACT: The spread of multidrug-resistance in Gram-negative bacterial pathogens presents a major clinical challenge, and new approaches are required to combat these organisms. Nitric oxide (NO) is a well-known antimicrobial that is produced by the immune system in response to infection, and numerous studies have demonstrated that NO is a respiratory inhibitor with both bacteriostatic and bactericidal properties. However, given that loss of aerobic respiratory complexes is known to diminish antibiotic efficacy, it was hypothesised that the potent respiratory inhibitor NO would elicit similar effects. Indeed, the current work demonstrates that pre-exposure to NO-releasers elicits a > tenfold increase in IC₅₀ for gentamicin against pathogenic E. coli (i.e. a huge decrease in lethality). It

SUBMITTER: Ribeiro CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8205896 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature