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Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, and antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change themselves in response to the use of these drugs.
Contrary to what was known, a new study published in the journal Nature on January 5 revealed that an evolutionary battle between fungi and bacteria on the hedgehog’s skin led to the emergence of a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria long before humans started using antibiotics, Which was thought to lead to the emergence of such resistant germs.
European hedgehogs skin and natural antigens
The researchers traced some strains of resistant bacteria, specifically methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to a parasitic fungus found on the skin of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus). The bacteria, in turn, developed resistance to antibiotics that later crossed into livestock and humans, the research team reports in a new study.
Co-author Ewan Harrison, from the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, explains in a Live Science report published on January 6, “We know that resistance genes entered the pathogen’s genome before For humans to use antibiotics, but that really describes a mechanism for how that happens.”
MRSA is a strain of staphylococcus bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics and is therefore difficult to treat if it enters the human or livestock body and causes disease. Researchers have investigated mecC-MRSA, a relatively rare form of resistant bacteria responsible for about 1 in 200 infections. human infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to a Cambridge University press release.
This rare type of mecC-MRSA-resistant bacteria was discovered in 2011 and was thought to have appeared in cows that had been treated with large amounts of antibiotics. The fungus Trichophyton erinacei produces naturally occurring penicillin antibiotics to fight bacteria.
The research team found the genes responsible for the production of the anti-penicillin that kills staphylococcus bacteria (Getty Images)Resistance genes and intermediate animals
An international research team sequenced the genome of parasitic fungi found on hedgehogs, and found the genes responsible for the production of penicillin antibiotics that kill staphylococcus bacteria. Every year their number decreases, according to Harrison who was part of that team.
The bacteria were found to have resistance to methicillin, a form of penicillin, in the 19th century, long before penicillin began to be used in the 1940s. Unsure how this rare type of mecC-MRSA passed to humans.
“We know that these resistance genes are present in soil and soil bacteria, and it is clear that animals such as hedgehogs and other wildlife come into contact with soil much more than most of us do,” says Harrison.
Resistant germs can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with hedgehogs, the researchers say. However, Harrison stressed that people should not be afraid of hedgehogs for this reason, saying “I don’t think hedgehogs are dangerous…we should skip that.” This rare type of mecC-MRSA has also been found in cattle, so these animals may be – Or another unknown animal – they are psychics.
“It just shows that evolutionary processes in nature can select for antibiotic resistance, and it could end up in a human pathogen,” Harrison says.
Resistant germs can be transmitted to humans through direct contact with hedgehogs and other animals (Reuters)Before using penicillin
Other MRSA strains that the researchers studied arose around the time penicillin was introduced into therapy, suggesting that our use of antibiotics was a selective pressure for resistance in these cases.
William Keevil, a professor of environmental health care at the University of Southampton who was not involved in the study, welcomed the new research, telling Live Science in an email, “I think it’s an important study and yet another example of evolutionary warfare and the adaptation of environmental bacteria to survive in the wild.” The presence of antibiotic-producing fungi, which was occurring for hundreds of millions of years before the emergence of mammals and before the age of antibiotics.”
