Impact of antibiotics used as growth promoters on bacterial resistance

Abstract

For decades intensive husbandry has more or less been based on the use of antibiotics in sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) aimed at growth promotion. Continuous exposure of animal intestinal microbiota, including opportunistic zoonotic pathogens, to sub-MIC poses a pressure to selection and spread of bacteria strains with developed mechanism of antibiotic resistance. These bacteria may be transferred to people either by direct contact with farm animals or indirectly, via the food chain. Although in the EU a ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters was imposed in 2006, in many countries, including the largest producers and consumers of antibiotics in the world, it has yet to be done. Given that we are faced with a global problem of the loss of the efficacy of several antibiotic classes which are available for the treatment of human bacterial infections, it is unacceptable that antibiotic use in husbandry is not under global control. Reduction in antibiotic use in clinical practice in human medicine remains in dispute, but non-therapeutic use in husbandry remains a field in which much can be done to contribute substantially to the extension of antibiotic effectiveness and health care of future generations.

Intenzivna stočarska proizvodnja se decenijama u većoj ili manjoj meri bazira na upotrebi antibiotika u subinhibitornim koncentracijama za promociju rasta. Kontinuirano izlaganje mikrobiota digestivnog trakta životinja (uključujući i oportunističke zoonotske patogene) sub-inhibitornim koncentracijama antibiotika, predstavlja pritisak na selekciju i širenje sojeva bakterija sa mehanizmima rezistencije na antibiotike. Na ljude se ove bakterije mogu preneti direktnim kontaktom sa farmskim životinjama ili na posredan način, preko lanca ishrane. Iako je u zemljama Evropske unije upotreba antibiotika za promociju rasta životinja zabranjena 2006. godine, u mnogim državama, uključujući najveće proizvođače i potrošače antibiotika u svetu, ova praksa se zadržala do danas. Gubitak efikasnosti antibiotika koji su trenutno na raspolaganju za lečenje bakterijskih infekcija kod ljudi je rastući problem, zbog čega je neprihvatljivo da upotreba antibiotika u stočarskoj proizvodnji nije pod globalnom kontrolom. Klinička praksa u humanoj medicini ostavlja diskutabilan prostor za redukciju primene antibiotika, ali je neterapeutska upotreba u stočarstvu oblast u okviru koje se može značajno doprineti produžavanju veka upotrebljivosti pojedinih klasa antibiotika i očuvanju zdravlja budućih generacija.