Genotype variation and genetic relationship among Escherichia coli from nursery pigs located in different pens in the same farm.

BACKGROUND: So far, little is known about the genetic diversity and relatedness among Escherichia coli (E. coli) populations in the gut of swine. Information on this is required to improve modeling studies on antimicrobial resistance aiming to fight its occurrence and development. This work evaluated the genotype variation of E. coli isolated from swine fecal samples at the single pig and pen level, as well as between pens using repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) PCR fingerprinting and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The genetic diversity of strains collected from media supplemented with ampicillin or tetracycline was also investigated. Besides, the genetic relationship of strains within each pen, between pens, as well as among strains within each group isolated from media with or without antibiotic, was assessed. RESULTS: REP-PCR patterns (N = 75) were generated for all the isolates (N = 720). Two profiles (REP_2 and REP_5) dominated, accounting for 23.7 and 23.3% of all isolates, respectively. At the pig and at the pen level, the number of different strains ranged from two to eight, and from 27 to 31, respectively, and multiple isolates from a single pen were found to be identical; however, in some of the pens, additional strains occurred at a lower frequency. E. coli isolates yielding different REP profiles were subjected to PFGE and led to 41 different genotypes which were also compared. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the presence of dominant strains, our results suggest a high genetic diversity of E. coli strains exist at the pen level and between pens. Selection with antibiotic seems to not affect the genetic diversity. The dominant REP profiles were the same found in a previous study in Denmark, which highlights that the same predominant strains are circulating in pigs of this country and might represent the archetypal E.coli commensal in pigs.

Modeling the growth dynamics of multiple Escherichia coli strains in the pig intestine following intramuscular ampicillin treatment.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated how dosing regimen for intramuscularly-administered ampicillin, composition of Escherichia coli strains with regard to ampicillin susceptibility, and excretion of bacteria from the intestine affected the level of resistance among Escherichia coli strains in the intestine of nursery pigs. It also examined the dynamics of the composition of bacterial strains during and after the treatment. The growth responses of strains to ampicillin concentrations were determined using in vitro growth curves. Using these results as input data, growth predictions were generated using a mathematical model to simulate the competitive growth of E. coli strains in a pig intestine under specified plasma concentration profiles of ampicillin. RESULTS: In vitro growth results demonstrated that the resistant strains did not carry a fitness cost for their resistance, and that the most susceptible strains were more affected by increasing concentrations of antibiotics that the rest of the strains. The modeling revealed that short treatment duration resulted in lower levels of resistance and that dosing frequency did not substantially influence the growth of resistant strains. Resistance levels were found to be sensitive to the number of competing strains, and this effect was enhanced by longer duration of treatment. High excretion of bacteria from the intestine favored resistant strains over sensitive strains, but at the same time it resulted in a faster return to pre-treatment levels after the treatment ended. When the duration of high excretion was set to be limited to the treatment time (i.e. the treatment was assumed to result in a cure of diarrhea) resistant strains required longer time to reach the previous level. CONCLUSION: No fitness cost was found to be associated with ampicillin resistance in E. coli. Besides dosing factors, epidemiological factors (such as number of competing strains and bacterial excretion) influenced resistance development and need to be considered further in relation to optimal treatment strategies. The modeling approach used in the study is generic, and could be used for prediction of the effect of treatment with other drugs and other administration routes for effect on resistance development in the intestine of pigs.

Multistrain models predict sequential multidrug treatment strategies to result in less antimicrobial resistance than combination treatment.

BACKGROUND: Combination treatment is increasingly used to fight infections caused by bacteria resistant to two or more antimicrobials. While multiple studies have evaluated treatment strategies to minimize the emergence of resistant strains for single antimicrobial treatment, fewer studies have considered combination treatments. The current study modeled bacterial growth in the intestine of pigs after intramuscular combination treatment (i.e. using two antibiotics simultaneously) and sequential treatments (i.e. alternating between two antibiotics) in order to identify the factors that favor the sensitive fraction of the commensal flora. Growth parameters for competing bacterial strains were estimated from the combined in vitro pharmacodynamic effect of two antimicrobials using the relationship between concentration and net bacterial growth rate. Predictions of in vivo bacterial growth were generated by a mathematical model of the competitive growth of multiple strains of Escherichia coli. RESULTS: Simulation studies showed that sequential use of tetracycline and ampicillin reduced the level of double resistance, when compared to the combination treatment. The effect of the cycling frequency (how frequently antibiotics are alternated in a sequential treatment) of the two drugs was dependent upon the order in which the two drugs were used. CONCLUSION: Sequential treatment was more effective in preventing the growth of resistant strains when compared to the combination treatment. The cycling frequency did not play a role in suppressing the growth of resistant strains, but the specific order of the two antimicrobials did. Predictions made from the study could be used to redesign multidrug treatment strategies not only for intramuscular treatment in pigs, but also for other dosing routes.

Apramycin treatment affects selection and spread of a multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli strain able to colonize the human gut in the intestinal microbiota of pigs.

The effect of apramycin treatment on transfer and selection of an Escherichia coli strain (E. coli 912) in the intestine of pigs was analyzed through an in vivo experiment. The strain was sequenced and assigned to the sequence type ST101 and serotype O11. It carried resistance genes to apramycin/gentamicin, sulphonamide, tetracycline, hygromycin B, ß-lactams and streptomycin [aac(3)-IV, sul2, tet(X), aph(4), bla TEM-1 and strA/B], with all but tet(X) located on the same conjugative plasmid. Nineteen pigs were randomly allocated into two inoculation groups, one treated with apramycin (pen 2) and one non-treated (pen 3), along with a non-inoculated control group (pen 1). Two pigs of pen 2 and 3 were inoculated intragastrically with a rifampicin resistant variant of the strain. Apramycin treatment in pen 2 was initiated immediately after inoculation. Strain colonization was assessed in the feces from all pigs. E. coli 912 was shown to spread to non-inoculated pigs in both groups. The selective effect did not persist beyond 3 days post-treatment, and the strain was not detected from this time point in pen 2. We demonstrated that E. coli 912 was able to spread between pigs in the same pen irrespective of treatment, and apramycin treatment resulted in significantly higher counts compared to the non-treated group. This represents the first demonstration of how antimicrobial treatment affects spread of resistant bacteria in pig production. The use of apramycin may lead to enhanced spread of gentamicin-resistant E. coli. Since gentamicin is a first-choice drug for human bacteremia, this is of concern.

Tentative colistin epidemiological cut-off value for Salmonella spp.

The objective of this research was to determine minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) population distributions for colistin for Salmonella on subtype level. Furthermore, we wanted to determine if differences in MIC for colistin could be explained by mutations in pmrA or pmrB encoding proteins involved in processes that influence the binding of colistin to the cell membrane. During 2008-2011, 6,583 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica isolates of human origin and 1931 isolates of animal/meat origin were collected. The isolates were serotyped, and susceptibility was tested towards colistin (range 1-16 mg/L). Moreover, 37 isolates were tested for mutations in pmrA and pmrB by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing. MIC distribution for colistin at serotype level showed that Salmonella Dublin (n=198) followed by Salmonella Enteritidis (n=1247) were less susceptible than "other" Salmonella serotypes originating from humans (n=5,274) and Salmonella Typhimurium of animal/meat origin (n=1794). MIC was ≤1 mg/L for 98.9% of "other" Salmonella serotypes originating from humans, 99.4% of Salmonella Typhimurium, 61.3% of Salmonella Enteritidis, and 12.1% of Salmonella Dublin isolates. Interestingly, Salmonella Dublin and Salmonella Enteritidis belong to the same O-group (O:1, 9,12), suggesting that surface lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of the cell (O-antigen) play a role in colistin susceptibility. The epidemiological cut-off value of >2 mg/L for colistin suggested by European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) is placed inside the distribution for both Salmonella Dublin and Salmonella Enteritidis. All tested Salmonella Dublin isolates, regardless of MIC colistin value, had identical pmrA and pmrB sequences. Missense mutations were found only in pmrA in one Salmonella Reading and in pmrB in one Salmonella Concord isolate, both with MIC of ≤1 for colistin. In conclusion, our study indicates that missense mutations are not necessarily involved in increased MICs for colistin. Increased MICs for colistin seemed to be linked to specific serotypes (Salmonella Dublin and Salmonella Enteritidis). We recommend that Salmonella with MIC of >2 mg/L for colistin be evaluated on the serovar level.

Effect of different oral oxytetracycline treatment regimes on selection of antimicrobial resistant coliforms in nursery pigs.

A major concern derived from using antimicrobials in pig production is the development of resistance. This study aimed to assess the impact of selected combinations of oral dose and duration of treatment with oxytetracycline (OTC) on selection of tetracycline resistant (TET-R) coliforms recovered from swine feces. The work encompassed two studies: 1) OTC 5mg/kg and 20mg/kg were administered to nursery pigs for 3 and 10days, respectively, under controlled experimental conditions, and 2) 10mg/kg, 20mg/kg and 30mg/kg OTC were given to a higher number of pigs for 6, 3 and 2days, respectively, under field conditions. Statistical modeling was applied to analyze trends in the proportion of TET-R coliforms. In the experimental study, no statistical difference in proportion of TET-R coliforms was observed between treatments at the end of the trial (day 18) and compared to day 0. In the field study, treatment had a significant effect on the proportion of TET-R bacteria two days after the end of treatment (2dAT) with the regimes "low dose-six days" and "medium dose-three days" yielding the highest and lowest proportions of TET-R strains, respectively. No indication of co-selection for ampicillin- and sulphonamide -R bacteria was observed for any treatment at 2dAT. By the end of the nursery period, the proportion of TET-R bacteria was not significantly different between treatments and compared to day 0. Our results suggest that similar resistance levels might be obtained by using different treatment regimes regardless of the combinations of oral dose-duration of treatment.

Pharmacodynamic modelling of in vitro activity of tetracycline against a representative, naturally occurring population of porcine Escherichia coli.

BACKGROUND: The complex relationship between drug concentrations and bacterial growth rates require not only the minimum inhibitory concentration but also other parameters to capture the dynamic nature of the relationship. To analyse this relationship between tetracycline concentration and growth of Escherichia coli representative of those found in the Danish pig population, we compared the growth of 50 randomly selected strains. The observed net growth rates were used to describe the in vitro pharmacodynamic relationship between drug concentration and net growth rate based on E max model with three parameters: maximum net growth rate (amax); concentration for a half-maximal response (E max); and the Hill coefficient (γ). RESULTS: The net growth rate in the absence of antibiotic did not differ between susceptible and resistant isolates (P = 0.97). The net growth rate decreased with increasing tetracycline concentrations, and this decline was greater in susceptible strains than resistant strains. The lag phase, defined as the time needed for the strain to reach an OD600 value of 0.01, increased exponentially with increasing tetracycline concentration. The pharmacodynamic parameters confirmed that the αmax between susceptible and resistant strains in the absence of a drug was not different. EC 50 increased linearly with MIC on a log-log scale, and γ was different between susceptible and resistant strains. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro model parameters described the inhibition effect of tetracycline on E. coli when strains were exposed to a wide range of tetracycline concentrations. These parameters, along with in vivo pharmacokinetic data, may be useful in mathematical models to predict in vivo competitive growth of many different strains and for development of optimal dosing regimens for preventing selection of resistance.