Antibiotic Resistance Genes Occurrence in Wastewaters from Selected Pharmaceutical Facilities in Nigeria

• Main Authors: Amarachukwu Obayiuwana, Abasiofiok M. Ibekwe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Water
• Subjects: antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs); antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB); pharmaceutical wastewater; tetracycline; aminoglycoside
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/12/7/1897

The proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in wastewaters are well-established factors that contribute to the reduced potency of antibiotics used in healthcare worldwide. The human health risk associated with the proliferation of ARB and ARGs need to be understood in order to design mitigation measures to combat their dissemination. Using the PCR analysis of genomic DNA, the prevalence of 41 ARGs active against the commonly used six classes of antibiotics was evaluated in 60 bacterial isolates obtained from pharmaceutical wastewaters in Nigeria. The ARGs most frequently detected from the bacterial isolates in each of the antibiotic classes under study include <i>cat</i>A1 (58.3%); <i>sul</i>I (31.7%); <i>tet</i>(E) (30%); <i>aac</i>(3)-IV (28.3%); <i>erm</i>C (20%); <i>bla</i>_TEM, <i>bla</i>_CTX-M, <i>bla</i>_NDM-1 at 18.3% each; which encode for resistance to chloramphenicol, sulfonamides, tetracycline, aminoglycoside, macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin and β-lactams and penicillins, respectively. <i>Acinetobacter</i> spp., accession number MH396735 expressed the highest number of ARGs of all the bacterial isolates, having at least one gene that encodes for resistance to all the classes of antibiotics in the study. This study highlights wide distribution of ARB and ARGs to the antibiotics tested in the wastewater, making pharmaceutical wastewater reservoirs of ARGs which could potentially be transferred from commensal microorganisms to human pathogens.