Colistin, also known as polymyxin E, is antibiotics active against most of Gram-negative bacteria. In the pas decade, emergency of multidrug-resistant bacteria led to increase of colistin administration as a last resort antibiotic for human infections. The first plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 was identified in 2015 in animals in China and after first detection, additional mcr genes: mcr-2, mcr-3, mcr-4, mcr-5, mcr-6, mcr-7 a mcr-8 were described throughout the world. The aim of this thesis was to clarify whether there is horizontal transmission colistin resistance encoded by the mcr genes in gram-negative bacteria isolated from the environment, animals and their breeding and food. The mcr-1 gene was detected in 2 strains Escherichia coli isolated from waste water. The mcr-4 gene was detected in 1 strain Shewanella putrefaciens isolate obtained from the lake. The environment is the most important source and way of spreading this type of resistance in the Czech Republic.

Multiresistens hos gramnegativa bakterier är ett stort problem i stora delar av världen. Avsaknaden av nya preparat har resulterat i återintroduktion av ett tidigare stoppat antibiotikum, kolistin, men dessvärre kantas resistensbestämningen av flertalet problem. Kolistin är en positivt laddad molekyl som binder till lipid A i yttermembranet, vilket destabiliseras och resulterar i celldöd. Flertalet resistensmekanismer mot kolistin finns beskrivna och majoriteten resulterar i förändrad lipid A-struktur, vilket leder till försämrad kolistininbindning. Syftet med examensarbetet var att utvärdera fyra potentiella screeningmetoder för att upptäcka kolistinresistens och jämföra resultaten mot buljongspädning som referensmetod. De fyra screeningmetoderna var buljongeluering och diskdiffusion samt de kommersiellt tillgängliga screeningtesterna Superpolymyxin och Rapid polymyxin NP. Totalt analyserades 57 helgenomsekvenserade Enterobacterales, varav 28 Escherichia coli och 29 Klebsiella pneumoniae, där aktuella resistensmekanismer var kända. Samtliga isolat analyserades en gång per metod och utöver detta analyserades även tre kontrollstammar. Vid buljongspädning erhölls värde för minsta inhiberande koncentration (MIC) kolistin, vilket användes för klassificering som känslig (MIC ≤ 2 mg/l) eller resistent (MIC > 2 mg/l). De fyra screeningtesterna var designade för att upptäcka resistenta isolat och innehöll 2–4 mg/l kolistin. Resultaten från screeningtesterna var kvalitativa och känslighetskategoriserade isolaten. Sensitivitet och specificitet beräknades för metoderna. Högst sensitivitet (100 %) noterades för Superpolymyxin och Rapid polymyxin NP, och lägst specificitet (76 %) för buljongeluering. Med hänsyn till resultat, prevalens, hållbarhets-, tids- och kostnadseffektivitet drogs slutsatsen att Rapid polymyxin NP är bästa alternativet som screeningmetod av utvärderade metoder. / Infections due to multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria are a major problem in large parts of the world. Due to lack of treatment options, a previously banned antibiotic, colistin, has been reintroduced. Unfortunately, susceptibility testing of colistin is problematic and currently the only recommended method is broth microdilution (BMD). Colistin is a positively charged molecule that binds to lipid A at the negatively charged outer cell membrane, which leads to cell disruption. Several mutations causing colistin resistance have been identified, most of them cause alterations of lipid A, resulting in impaired colistin outer cell membrane interaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate four potential screening methods for colistin resistance and compare the results with BMD (reference method). The four screening methods were broth disk elution, disk diffusion and the commercially available tests Superpolymyxin and Rapid polymyxin NP. A collection of 57 whole genome sequenced Enterobacterales consisting of 28 Escherichia coli and 29 Klebsiella pneumoniae were included in the study. Reference results were obtained by BMD, where the estimated minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were used for classification of the isolates as sensitive (MIC ≤ 2 mg/l) or resistant (MIC > 2 mg/l). Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for the methods. The highest sensitivity (100 %) was noted for Superpolymyxin and Rapid polymyxin NP, and the lowest specificity (76 %) for broth disk elution. Considering the results, prevalence, durability, time and cost efficiency, it was concluded that Rapid polymyxin NP is the best alternative as a screening method of evaluated methods.

Kolistin är ett gammalt polypeptidantibiotikum och används som sista utväg för behandling av allvarliga infektioner orsakad av multiresistenta gramnegativa bakterier. Nya studier har påvisat kolistinresistensgener, mcr (mobil colistin resistance), hos extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producerande Enterobacteriaceae. Mcr-genen ligger i plasmider som kan överföras mellan bakterier, vilket innebär att det är mycket svårare att behandla människor och djur vid infektion orsakad av patogen som erhållit denna resistens. Syfte med detta projekt var att utveckla en PCR-baserad metod för detektion av mcr-1 och mcr-3 gener. I denna studie optimerades en PCR-metod och sedan screenades 60 ESBL-isolat från Kristianstads vattenrike. Därefter undersöktes PCR-produkt med hjälp av agarosgelselektrofores. Resultatet visade att 51oC är den optimala annealingtemperaturen vid multiplex-PCR för detektion av mcr-1 och mcr-3. Ingen av mcr-generna kunde detekteras i de 60 ESBL-isolaten. Positiva kontrollstammar med specifika primers kunde detekteras i PCR-analyser som genomfördes i denna studie, vilket tyder på att den optimerade PCR metoden kan vara pålitlig för detektion av mcr-1 och mcr-3 generna.

Antibiotikaresistens är ett allt större problem i vårt samhälle och är ett av våra största hälsohot idag. Karbapenemresistenta Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) är en av tre bakterier som är högst upp på Världshälsoorganisationens (WHO) lista över prioriterade patogener som de anser att det är akut läge att utveckla nya antibiotika mot. I väntan på nya antibiotika är det dock viktigt att befintliga antibiotika används på ett optimalt vis. A. baumannii är gramnegativa bakterier som har en hög kapacitet att utveckla resistens mot många av de antimikrobiella medel de kommer i kontakt med. Infektioner med CRAB drabbar främst redan svårt sjuka människor som vårdas på intensivvårdsavdelningar, därför kan mortaliteten vara så hög som 68 %. Andelen CRAB har ökat över hela världen och det är inte ovanligt med isolat som endast är känsliga för kolistin. Kolistin är ett gammalt antibiotikum som tillhör gruppen polymyxiner och började användas på 1950-talet men övergavs sedan nästan helt under några år på grund av rapporter om en hög grad av nefrotoxicitet. Kombinationsterapi där kolistin används tillsammans med ett annat antibiotikum har blivit allt vanligare men det råder oenighet angående om kombinationsbehandling verkligen är mer effektiv än kolistin som monoterapi. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att undersöka om kombinationsterapi med kolistin är mer effektiv än kolistin som monoterapi samt att se hur vanligt det är med nefrotoxicitet vid kolistinbehandling. Artiklar söktes i databasen PubMed där fyra randomiserade kontrollerade studier (randomized controlled trials, RCT) samt två retrospektiva observationsstudier hittades som jämförde just monoterapi med kombinationsterapi. Resultaten från studierna tyder inte på att kombinationsbehandling skulle vara bättre än monoterapi vad gäller mortalitet och klinisk respons då inga statistiskt signifikanta skillnader observerades för dessa utfall. Andelen dödsfall varierade mellan studierna och låg mellan 41 %-73 %. Däremot kan det vara en fördel med kombinationsterapi för mikrobiologisk respons då två av studierna uppvisade signifikanta skillnader gällande detta. Kombinationen kolistin och fosfomycin uppvisade en mikrobiologisk respons på 100 % jämfört med monoterapi på 81 % och kombinationen kolistin och rifampicin hade en mikrobiologisk respons på 61 % jämfört med monoterapi på 45 %. Nefrotoxicitet uppstod totalt i mellan 10 - 60 % av fallen men i de flesta studierna drabbades mellan 20 - 35 %. / Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to world health today. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of pathogens for which it is important to develop new antibiotics against. Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) where amongst the three bacterial species that were on the top of that list. While we are waiting for new antimicrobial drugs to be developed, it is important that we use those that are available in an optimal way. A. baumannii bacteria mostly cause nosocomial infections, though community outbreaks occur as well. Patients affected by A. baumannii infections are often very sick people treated at intensive care units (ICU:s) with the mortality rates reported to be as high as 68 %. A. baumannii spread in hospitals as they have an extreme ability to adhere and survive on surfaces for long periods of time, and they also colonize the hands of the caretakers. Besides being able to survive desiccation and disinfectants, they also have the ability to develop resistance against most known antibiotics. Some isolates have been reported to show resistance against all tested antibiotics, whereas many other isolates were only susceptible to colistin. Colistin is an antibiotic that belongs to a group of drugs called polymyxins that were discovered in the 1940s and were used during the 1950s to 70s. Colistin had later been abandoned due to high rates of nephrotoxicity. Colistin is a bactericidal antibiotic that acts through changing the permeability of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria which leads to leakage of cell content and cell death. Although there are no clinical trials that support it, combination therapy where colistin is administrated together with another antibiotic agent, has become common, and for many physicians it is now thought of as standard. The aim of this study was to investigate, if the combination therapy with colistin is more effective than colistin as monotherapy against CRAB infections, and to examine the occurrence of nephrotoxicity. The study was performed as a literature search where six reports were collected from the database PubMed for analysis. The studies showed no superiority for combination therapy when it comes to mortality rates and clinical outcomes. When it comes to microbiological eradication, combination therapy proved to be significantly better than monotherapy in two of the studies that examined combinations of colistin together with fosfomycin or rifampicin. Nephrotoxicity developed in 10–60 % of the cases but in most of the reports the rate of nephrotoxicity was over 20 %. Conclusions based on this study are that combination therapy is not clinically more effective than monotherapy with colistin and that nephrotoxicity is a common adverse event.

Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic used to treat serious infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae and other multidrug resistant gram-negative bacteria. Recently discovered plasmid-borne colistin resistance, mediated by the mcr genes, poses a serious risk to colistin therapy. The aim of this diploma thesis was to map the occurrence of Enterobacteriaceae carrying the mcr-1 to 8 genes in hospitalized patients, travellers, prospective colistin-resistant clinical isolates and in a retrospective collection of Enterobacteriaceae using a combination of selective cultivation and qPCR. Isolates with a detected mcr gene were characterized by Whole-Genome Sequencing. The localization of mcr genes was determined and other resistance genes and plasmids were identified. Furthermore, the physiological profile of selected colistin- resistant Escherichia coli isolates was characterized. In the presence of a subinhibitory amount of colistin, a strain carrying the mcr-1 gene may be favored. Later, the mcr-9 gene was described and its occurence was subsequently tested retrospectively. Enterobacter spp. isolates carrying the mcr-9 gene were mostly colistin-sensitive but, in some cases, resistance was induced after exposure to sublethal doses of colistin. The results of the study show that the incidence of plasmid-mediated...

Colistin is a polypeptide antibiotic used as a "last resort" effective against Gram-negative bacteria. However, increase in its consumption in veterinary medicine in the last 30 years has led to the development of bacterial resistance even to colistin. The application of slurry to soil containing unmetabolized colistin and resistant bacteria poses a risk, because the resistance of bacteria to colistin can be further developed and spread to other components of the environment. Therefore, this work was focused on the creation and optimization of extraction and analytical methods for soil samples containing colistin. Colistin was detected by liquid chromatography in connection with mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS and UPLC/MS/MS). Many extraction solutions have been tested in connection with ultrasonic extraction and purification on various SPE columns, yet colistin has not been successfully extracted from the soil. Colistin was successfully detected only in the slurry extract. The reason why colistin was not detected in soil extracts could be the sorption of colistin on soil organic matter or the formation of complexes of colistin with humic substances.