Some growth promoters in animals do confer antimicrobial resistance in humans

The impact of essential oils on antibiotic use in animal production regarding antimicrobial resistance - a review

Population growth directly affects the global food supply, demanding a higher production efficiency without farmland expansion - in view of limited land resources and biodiversity loss worldwide. In such scenario, intensive agriculture practices have been widely used. A commonly applied method to maximize yield in animal production is the use of subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics as growth promoters. Because of the strong antibiotic selection pressure generated, the intense use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) has been associated to the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Also, cross-resistance can occur, leading to the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens and limiting treatment options in both human and animal health. Thereon, alternatives have been studied to replace AGP in animal production. Among such alternatives, essential oils and essential oil components (EOC) stand out positively from others due to, besides antimicrobial effectiveness, improving zootechnical indexes and modulating genes involved in resistance mechanisms. This review summarizes recent studies in essential oils and EOC for zoonotic bacteria control, providing detailed information about the molecular-level effects of their use in regard to AMR, and identifying important gaps to be filled within the animal production area.

The millennium bugs--the need for and development of new antibacterials

Global antibacterial resistance is becoming an increasing public health problem. Bacteria resistant to almost all of the available antibacterials have been identified. The pharmaceutical industry and fledgling biotechnology companies are responding to the threat of antibiotic resistance with renewed efforts to discover novel antibacterials in attempts to overcome bacterial resistance. Both short term and long term strategies are being vigorously pursued. Short-term efforts are focused on developing novel antibacterial agents with a narrow spectrum of action to combat the problem of gram-positive resistant bacteria. Long-term approaches include the use of microbial genomic sequencing techniques to discover novel agents active against potentially new bacterial targets. Better use of existing agents using pharmacodynamic data to optimise antibiotic regimens is increasingly being addressed and the hope is that such measures will prevail until the newer agents are available.