Clinically Relevant β-Lactam Resistance Genes in Wastewater Treatment Plants

Izabela Waśko (), Aleksandra Kozińska, Ewa Kotlarska and Anna Baraniak
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Izabela Waśko: Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
Aleksandra Kozińska: Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
Ewa Kotlarska: Genetics and Marine Biotechnology Department, Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstancow Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland
Anna Baraniak: Department of Biomedical Research, National Medicines Institute, Chelmska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-34

Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the largest global concerns due to its influence in multiple areas, which is consistent with One Health’s concept of close interconnections between people, animals, plants, and their shared environments. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) circulate constantly in various niches, sediments, water sources, soil, and wastes of the animal and plant sectors, and is linked to human activities. Sewage of different origins gets to the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where ARB and ARG removal efficiency is still insufficient, leading to their transmission to discharge points and further dissemination. Thus, WWTPs are believed to be reservoirs of ARGs and the source of spreading AMR. According to a World Health Organization report, the most critical pathogens for public health include Gram-negative bacteria resistant to third-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems (last-choice drugs), which represent β-lactams, the most widely used antibiotics. Therefore, this paper aimed to present the available research data for ARGs in WWTPs that confer resistance to β-lactam antibiotics, with a particular emphasis on clinically important life-threatening mechanisms of resistance, including extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and carbapenemases (KPC, NDM).

Keywords: antibiotic resistance genes; wastewater treatment plant; ?-lactamase; extended-spectrum ?-lactamase; carbapenemases (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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