Enterobacteriaceae and Bacteroidaceae provide resistance to travel-associated intestinal colonization by multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli
Matthew Davies,
Gianluca Galazzo,
Jarne M. van Hattem,
Maris S. Arcilla,
Damian C. Melles,
Menno D. de Jong,
Constance Schultsz,
Petra Wolffs,
Alan McNally,
Willem van Schaik,
John Penders
Affiliations
Matthew Davies
Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Gianluca Galazzo
Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
Jarne M. van Hattem
Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Maris S. Arcilla
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Damian C. Melles
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Menno D. de Jong
Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Constance Schultsz
Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Petra Wolffs
Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
Alan McNally
Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Willem van Schaik
Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
John Penders
Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), Maastricht, The Netherlands
Previous studies have shown high acquisition risks of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) among international travelers visiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR) hotspots. Although antibiotic use and travelers’ diarrhea have shown to influence the ESBL-E acquisition risk, it remains largely unknown whether successful colonization of ESBL-E during travel is associated with the composition, functional capacity and resilience of the traveler’s microbiome. The microbiome of pre- and post-travel fecal samples from 190 international travelers visiting Africa or Asia was profiled using whole metagenome shotgun sequencing. A metagenomics species concept approach was used to determine the microbial composition, population diversity and functional capacity before travel and how it is altered longitudinally. Eleven travelers were positive for ESBL-E before travel and removed from the analysis. Neither the microbial richness (Chao1), diversity (effective Shannon) and community structure (Bray–Curtis dissimilarity) in pretravel samples nor the longitudinal change of these metrics during travel were predictive for ESBL-E acquisition. A zero-inflated two-step beta-regression model was used to determine how the longitudinal change in both prevalence and abundance of each taxon was related to ESBL acquisition. There were detected increases in both the prevalence and abundance of Citrobacter freundii and two members of the genus Bacteroides, in association with remaining uncolonized by ESBL-E. These results highlight the potential of these individual microbes as a microbial consortium to prevent the acquisition of ESBL-E. The ability to alter a person’s colonization resistance to a bacterium could be key to intervention strategies that aim to minimize the spread of MDR bacteria.
