PLoS Pathogens (Dec 2022)

Effects of chronic exposure to arsenic on the fecal carriage of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among people in rural Bangladesh.

  • Mohammed Badrul Amin,
  • Prabhat Kumar Talukdar,
  • Muhammad Asaduzzaman,
  • Subarna Roy,
  • Brandon M Flatgard,
  • Md Rayhanul Islam,
  • Sumita Rani Saha,
  • Zahid Hayat Mahmud,
  • Tala Navab-Daneshmand,
  • Molly L Kile,
  • Karen Levy,
  • Timothy R Julian,
  • Mohammad Aminul Islam

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010952
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 12
p. e1010952

Abstract

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Antibiotic resistance is a leading cause of hospitalization and death worldwide. Heavy metals such as arsenic have been shown to drive co-selection of antibiotic resistance, suggesting arsenic-contaminated drinking water is a risk factor for antibiotic resistance carriage. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and abundance of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (AR-Ec) among people and drinking water in high (Hajiganj, >100 μg/L) and low arsenic-contaminated (Matlab, 0.2) was observed in a higher proportion of water (78%) and child stool (100%) isolates in Hajiganj than in water (57%) and children (89%) in Matlab (p <0.05). The odds of arsenic-resistant bacteria being resistant to third-generation cephalosporin antibiotics were higher compared to arsenic-sensitive bacteria (odds ratios, OR 1.2-7.0, p <0.01). WGS-based phylogenetic analysis of E. coli isolates did not reveal any clustering based on arsenic exposure and no significant difference in resistome was found among the isolates between the two areas. The positive association detected between arsenic exposure and antibiotic resistance carriage among children in arsenic-affected areas in Bangladesh is an important public health concern that warrants redoubling efforts to reduce arsenic exposure.