To understand the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment bioreactors, the ARGs in sludge from two full-scale pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plants (PWWTPs) were investigated and compared with sludge samples from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) using metagenomic approach. The results showed that the ARG abundances in PWWTP sludge ranged from 54.7 to 585.0 ppm, which were higher than those in STP sludge (27.2 to 86.4 ppm).

Antibiotics have been considered emerging pollutants due to their continuous input and persistence in the aquatic ecosystem. The present paper addresses the degradation and removal processes applied to a specific class of micropollutants, the antibiotic tetracycline (TETRA). Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline in aqueous suspensions of titanium dioxide in the presence of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and ultraviolet (UV) illumination was performed in a vertical circulating photocatalytic reactor. The optimum catalyst concentration was about 0.1g/L.

Antibiotics, though remarkably useful, can also cause certain adverse effects. We detected that treatment of adult mice with antibiotics decreases hippocampal neurogenesis and memory retention. Reconstitution with normal gut flora (SPF) did not completely reverse the deficits in neurogenesis unless the mice also had access to a running wheel or received probiotics. In parallel to an increase in neurogenesis and memory retention, both SPF-reconstituted mice that ran and mice supplemented with probiotics exhibited higher numbers of Ly6Chi monocytes in the brain than antibiotic-treated mice.

What are we to do about antibiotic resistance? Last week, another government report repeated stark warnings about the crisis, and offered some suggestions to improve the situation. The UK report, prepared by a panel chaired by the economist Jim O'Neill, naturally focused on financial incentives, including US$1-billion prizes for pharmaceutical firms that develop new antimicrobial drugs.

Original Source

More and more infectious disease treatments fail because the causative pathogens are resistant to the drugs used for treatment. For the treatment of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a sexually transmitted bacterium, drug resistance is a particularly big problem: there is only a single antibiotic left that is recommended for treatment. We aimed to understand how antibiotic-resistant N. gonorrhoeae spread in a sexually active host population and how the spread of resistance can be slowed.