Footnote:
Diese Datenquelle enthält auch Bestandsnachweise, die nicht zu einem Volltext führen.
Description:
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging global One Health issue, affecting both human and veterinary medicine, as well as the environment. Previous research revealed that clinics providing healthcare for companion animals, such as horses, in fact represent ’hot spots’ for the local spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. Equines receiving perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP), consisting of gentamicin and penicillin, were hereby found to be frequently colonized by MDR bacteria. Since the duration of antibiotic therapy influences the local selective pressure and recovery time of the microbiome, two distinct PAP regimens were comparatively investigated, particularly in regards to the emergence of genes conferring resistance to antibiotics, biocides and metals (ARGs) within the enteral and nasal microbiota. Hospitalized horses subjected to colic surgery were randomized into two groups receiving PAP, either as a single dosage prior to surgery (SSG) or across 5 consecutive days post-surgery, including the initial dosage (5DG). Faecal and nasal samples were collected on days 0 (hospital admission), 3 and 10 (post-surgery). Samples were subsequently 16S rRNA (n = 78) and metagenome shotgun (n = 64) sequenced. Two novel computational workflows were developed for analysis of the respective microbiome and resistome data sets (Meta16s and MetaGEN). Results were then tested for statistical correlation with study groups, sampling time points and taxonomic diversities. The results display unique metagenomes associated with each of the equine patients. Beyond the impact of hospital stay and surgery, PAP caused microbiome perturbations in both nasal and gut environments, resulting in the accumulation of ARGs throughout the study period. Genes conferring resistance to beta-lactamases and aminoglycosides increased significantly in relative abundance over time within the 5DG, while the latter stagnated within the SSG. Taxonomic alpha diversity was found to be negatively correlated with the reconstructed ARGs ...