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Antimicrobial resistance
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Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites stop responding to antimicrobials, the medicines used against them. The result is that an infection becomes hard to treat, or outright impossible.
In the case of bacteria, the use of antibiotics, the antimicrobials that attack them, puts selective pressure on them. And a bacterium that was susceptible at first can become resistant in two ways: a mutation in its chromosome, meaning a change in its own genes, or the acquisition of resistance genes from another organism.
That resistance shows in what the bacterium does when faced with the drug. It can make enzymes that inactivate the antibiotic. It can alter the site where the antibiotic binds, so the drug may hold on less tightly; this is called losing affinity. Or it can pump the drug out with efflux transporters, which work like the pump that bails water out of a boat.
In brief
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites do not respond to antimicrobial medicines, and infections become difficult or impossible to treat.
In bacteria, antibiotic use exerts selective pressure; an initially susceptible bacterium can become resistant through chromosomal mutations or by acquiring resistance genes from other organisms.
A bacterium can produce enzymes that inactivate the antibiotic, alter its binding site, which can reduce the drug's affinity, or pump it out with efflux transporters.
Sources (2)
- World Health OrganizationAntimicrobial resistance, WHO fact sheetPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAntibiotic Resistance, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated