Escherichia coli Mutators Present an Enhanced Risk for Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance during Urinary Tract Infections

• DOI: 10.1128/aac.48.1.23-29.2004
• Publication Date: 2003-12-24T02:03:22Z
• Authors: Keith Miller; Alexander John O'...; Ian Chopra
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Culture Media; 3. Good health; Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase; 03 medical and health sciences; Bacterial Proteins; Gene Frequency; Risk Factors; Ethidium; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Mutation; Urinary Tract Infections; Escherichia coli; Humans; Fluorometry; Escherichia coli Infections; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins

Mutators may present an enhanced risk for the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria during chemotherapy. Using Escherichia coli mutators as a model, we evaluated their ability to develop antibiotics routinely used treatment urinary tract infections (UTIs). Under conditions that simulate therapeutic drug concentrations humans, low-level trimethoprim, gentamicin, and cefotaxime emerged more frequently than normal strains. Resistance trimethoprim both cell types arose from single point mutation folA (Ile94-->Leu) resulted loss outer membrane porin OmpF. The mechanisms gentamicin could not be defined, but did result mutations ribosomal protein L6 (rplF). Although similar probably arise these strains, are factor because increased generation mutants with enhances opportunity subsequent high-level resistance.