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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- 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
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
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