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. 2007 Feb;73(3):855-60.
doi: 10.1128/AEM.02001-06. Epub 2006 Nov 22.

Inhibitory impact of bifidobacteria on the transfer of beta-lactam resistance among Enterobacteriaceae in the gnotobiotic mouse digestive tract

C Moubareck  1 , M Lecso, E Pinloche, M J Butel, F Doucet-Populaire
Affiliations

Inhibitory impact of bifidobacteria on the transfer of beta-lactam resistance among Enterobacteriaceae in the gnotobiotic mouse digestive tract

C Moubareck et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Feb.

Abstract

While looking for new means to limit the dissemination of antibiotic resistance, we evaluated the role of potentially probiotic bifidobacteria on the transfer of resistance genes between enterobacteria. Transfers of bla genes encoding extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (SHV-5 and CTX-M-15) were studied in the absence or presence of bifidobacteria. In vitro, transfer frequencies of these bla genes decreased significantly in the presence of three of five tested strains, i.e., Bifidobacterium longum CUETM-89-215, Bifidobacterium bifidum CIP-56.7T, and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T. Four transfer experiments were conducted in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice, the first three observing the effect of B. longum CUETM-89-215, B. bifidum CIP-56.7T, and B. pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T on blaSHV-5 transfer and the fourth experiment studying the effect of B. bifidum CIP-56.7T on blaCTX-M-15 transfer. These experiments revealed significant decreases in the transconjugant levels (up to 3 logs) in mice having received B. bifidum CIP-56.7T or B. pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T compared to control mice. Bifidobacteria appear to have an inhibitory impact on the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. The inhibitory effect is associated to specific bifidobacterial strains and may be related to the production of thermostable metabolites by these strains.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Effects of different bifidobacterial preparations of B. longum CUETM-89-215, B. bifidum CIP-56.7T, and B. pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T on transconjugant counts in the conjugation medium. (A) Transfer of blaSHV-5; (B) transfer of blaCTX-M-15. Data, expressed as means ± the standard errors, are from three independent experiments. Symbols: ▪, control; ░⃞, bifidobacterial culture; formula image, killed bifidobacteria; formula image, culture supernatant; ▧, bifidobacterial pellet. *, significantly different from frequencies obtained in absence of bifidobacteria (P ≤ 1% [Student test]).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Bacterial counts in homogenized feces of gnotobiotic mice. On day 0, 18 germfree mice were inoculated with 108 E. coli K-12 recipients. On day 3, six of these mice were inoculated with 108 B. bifidum CIP-56.7T and six others were inoculated with 108 B. pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T. The remaining six mice corresponded to our control group. On day 8, all mice were inoculated with 108 K. pneumoniae CIP-104771::blaSHV-5 donors. The figure shows the geometric averages of the recipient and donor counts in the 18 mice and the geometric averages of transconjugant counts in each group of six mice. The error bars indicate the standard deviations. Symbols: ⧫, E. coli K-12; ▴, K. pneumoniae CIP-104771::blaSHV-5; □, transconjugants in the absence of bifidobacteria; ○, transconjugants in the presence of B. bifidum CIP-56.7T; •, transconjugants in the presence of B. pseudocatenulatum CIP-104168T.
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