title: Country-specific antibiotic use practices impact the human gut resistome.
abstract: Despite increasing concerns over inappropriate use of antibiotics in medicine and food production, population-level resistance transfer into the human gut microbiota has not been demonstrated beyond individual case studies. To determine the "antibiotic resistance potential" for entire microbial communities, we employ metagenomic data and quantify the totality of known resistance genes in each community (its resistome) for 68 classes and subclasses of antibiotics. In 252 fecal metagenomes from three countries, we show that the most abundant resistance determinants are those for antibiotics also used in animals and for antibiotics that have been available longer. Resistance genes are also more abundant in samples from Spain, Italy, and France than from Denmark, the United States, or Japan. Where comparable country-level data on antibiotic use in both humans and animals are available, differences in these statistics match the observed resistance potential differences. The results are robust over time as the antibiotic resistance determinants of individuals persist in the human gut flora for at least a year.
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristoffer
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forslund
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sunagawa
authors.forename: Jens Roat
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Kultima
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Mende
authors.forename: Manimozhiyan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arumugam
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Typas
authors.forename: Peer
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bork
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003718:Denmark; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D005602:France; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007564:Japan; D054892:Metagenome / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D056186:Metagenomics; D019683:Penetrance; D013030:Spain; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents