The chemotherapeutic drug methotrexate selects for antibiotic resistance.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Understanding drivers of antibiotic resistance evolution is fundamental for designing optimal treatment strategies and interventions to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. Various cytotoxic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy have antibacterial properties, but how bacterial populations are affected by these selective pressures is unknown. Here we test the hypothesis that the widely used cytotoxic drug methotrexate affects the evolution and selection of antibiotic resistance.

Methods

First, we determined methotrexate susceptibility (IC₉₀) and selective abilities in a collection of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains with and without pre-existing trimethoprim resistance determinants. We constructed fluorescently labelled pairs of E. c

SUBMITTER: Guðmundsdottir JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8671861 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature