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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1491532
This article is part of the Research Topic Impacts of Metal and Xenobiotic-Induced Stress on Antibiotic Resistance in Microbial Communities View all articles

The Impact of Zinc Pre-exposure on Ciprofloxacin Resistance Development in E. coli

Provisionally accepted
Mark Paladin Suprenant Mark Paladin Suprenant 1Carly  Ching Carly Ching 1Indorica  Sutradhar Indorica Sutradhar 1Neila  Gross Neila Gross 2Jessica E Anderson Jessica E Anderson 1Nourhan El Sherif Nourhan El Sherif 1Muhammad Hamid Zaman Muhammad Hamid Zaman 1,2,3,4*
  • 1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Boston University, Boston, United States
  • 2 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
  • 3 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States
  • 4 Center on Forced Displacement, Boston, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis that is predicted to worsen in the coming years. While improper antibiotic usage is an established driver, less is known about the impact of other endogenous and exogeneous environmental factors, such as metals, on AMR. One metal of interest is zinc as it is often used as a supplement for diarrhea treatment prior to antibiotics. Here, we probed the impact of zinc on ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli. We found that the order of exposure to zinc impacted resistance development. Zinc pre-exposure led to a subsequent acceleration of ciprofloxacin resistance. Specifically, we saw that 5 days of zinc pre-exposure led samples to have nearly a 4x and 3x higher MIC after 2 and 3 days of subinhibitory antibiotics respectively compared to samples not pre-exposed to zinc, but only if ciprofloxacin exposure happened in the absence of zinc. Additionally for samples that underwent the same pre-exposure treatment, those exposed to a combination of zinc and ciprofloxacin saw delayed ciprofloxacin resistance compared to those exposed to only ciprofloxacin resulting in up to a 5x lower MIC within the first two days of antibiotic exposure. while combined exposure to zinc with ciprofloxacin delayed ciprofloxacin resistance. We did not observe any genetic changes or changes in antibiotic tolerance in cells after zinc pre-exposure, suggesting changes in gene expression may underlie these phenotypes. These results highlight the need to reexamine the role of zinc, and supplements more broadly, on antibiotic resistance evolution.

    Keywords: Zinc, Environmental Pollution, Conflict settings, Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), E. coli - Escherichia coli

    Received: 05 Sep 2024; Accepted: 01 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Suprenant, Ching, Sutradhar, Gross, Anderson, Sherif and Zaman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Muhammad Hamid Zaman, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Boston University, Boston, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.