Interplay Between Antimicrobial Resistance and Global Environmental Change

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes predate the therapeutic uses of antibiotics. However, the current antimicrobial resistance crisis stems from our extensive use of antibiotics and the generation of environmental stressors that impose new selective pressure on microbes and drive the evolution of resistant pathogens that now threaten human health. Similar to climate change, this global threat results from human activities that change habitats and natural microbiomes, which in turn interact with human-associated ecosystems and lead to adverse impacts on human health. Human activities that alter our planet at global scales exacerbate the current resistance crisis and exemplify our central role in large-scale changes in which we are both protagonists and architects of our success but also casualties of unanticipated collateral outcomes. As cognizant participants in this ongoing planetary experiment, we are driven to understand and find strategies to curb the ongoing crises of resistance and climate change. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genetics, Volume 57 is November 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Non-Canonical Aspects of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance

“…Other complex environmental issues, such as climate change, also seem to foster the emergence and spread of AR. Climate change may increase AR due to the bacterial physiological changes induced by temperature shifts [ 153 ] or its interaction with antibiotics [ 154 ], but much more likely because of increased infection rates, pollution dispersal, and disasters and their consequences (e.g., flooding, population displacement, damage to sanitation infrastructure) [ 155 ]. In fact, AR and climate change, both global problems with similar features, are also “intertwined challenges for public health” [ 156 ].…”