[Antimicrobial resistance and bacterial virulence].
Hospitals are places with high selective pressure by antimicrobial agents. For this reason, bacteria producing nosocomial infections need to be not only virulent, but also resistant to antimicrobial agents. In the present review we analyse the effect of the acquisition of an antibiotic resistance phenotype in bacterial fitness and virulence. Besides that, we review as well the existence of common mechanisms for resistance to antimicrobial agents and bacterial virulence. In this line, we highlight the role of multidrug efflux pumps on bacterial virulence. Since opportunistic pathogens frequently have an environmental origin, we also discuss the role of natural ecosystems, as well as their potential contamination, on the selection of bacteria resistant to antimicrobial agents.
Linares-Rodríguez
Juan Francisco
JF
Departamento de Biotecnología Microbiana, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
Martínez-Menéndez
José Luis
JL
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000191:economics / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D004351:Drug Resistance; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D017753:Ecosystem; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D014774:Virulence
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins