Superbug 'MCR-1' Update: Investigators Alert To Its Possible Spread

First Posted: Jul 08, 2016 04:26 AM EDT
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A clinical isolate of a bacterial pathogen, which holds the colistin resistance gene, mcr-1, has been detected in humans in the United States for the second time in the past month. Today, the investigators are on alert to its possible spread.

"The prospect of a mobile gene encoding resistance to colistin spreading among isolates resistant to most antimicrobial agents clinically available is threatening for the therapy of serious infection caused by isolates," concluded by the investigators. More studies are in progress at this time.The past study was published in the journal American Society for Microbiology.

In the previous report of Science World Report Mariana Castanheira, Ph.D., Director of Molecular and Microbiology at JML Laboratories explained that the isolates that tested positive for mcr-1 were susceptible to several commonly used antimicrobial agents. These include carbapenems and recently approved anti-microbial agents that can be used against gram-negative bacteria, generally. These and the same isolates are unlikely to cause hard to treat infections at this time. She further said that the fact that the gene has been detected in food livestock and raw meat is also concerning.

The researchers are now working to answer whether the mcr-1 gene is plasmid-mediated in the isolates they have identified. The plasmid-mediated mcr-1 was first sequestered from food animals and humans in China in 2015. With this, the potential of plasmids to jump to other bacteria, particularly to those that are already resistant to other antibiotics, as well as the gene's global distribution, close monitoring of the gene is warranted.

MCR-1 gene is a genetic mechanism, which convenes the first known plasmid-mediated resistance to colistin, one of a number of last-resort antibiotics and the apolymixin. It is the first polymixin resistance mechanism able of horizontal gene transfer. The mcr-1 was first discovered in E.coli from a pig in China in November 2015. It was later discovered in human samples from England, Malaysia, Europe, China and the United States.

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