Park Hill Vet: Antibiotics Are The Bomb

Two Ways Of Looking At Them

By Margot K. Vahrenwald, DVM, CVJ

For the GPHN

Antibiotics are The Bomb! They literally save lives and allow others to live with transplants, survive chemotherapy and more. But, antibiotics, or rather, antibiotic resistance is also a literal time bomb.

Bacterial resistance to our arsenal of antibiotics, used both in human and veterinary medicine, is growing. As well, our evolving evaluation of the best way to treat many early infections and diseases is also changing. If you haven’t been to your human doctor or your veterinary offices recently, you may find that, at next visit, an oral antibiotic used to treat a simple infection previously might no longer be prescribed and/or topical and supplemental treatment will be offered first before a doctor reaches for an anti-microbial.

Antimicrobial resistance is a natural process for bacteria, but we in treating ourselves or our pets can cause this to happen as well. This can happen by:

• Human and animal health professionals over-prescribing antibiotics

• When an antibiotic prescription is not given as directed – including giving all the medication as directed and not stopping when clinical signs improve

• Poor hygiene and lack of infection prevention such as washing hands properly

• Increased global travel spreading resistant bacteria

Bacteria have their natural defenses to antibiotics, but resistance to antibiotics is created when bacteria:

• Receive a resistant gene/s from other bacteria

• Evolve to protect themselves from an antibiotic or antibiotic class

• Turn on internal resistance processes

No. 1 – receiving resistant gene/s from other bacteria – is very significant. Think of a networking party and you are sharing and receiving contact information from individuals as a business card. Bacteria carry their own “business cards” in the form of plasmids that they can share with other bacteria, including different species of bacteria.

Plasmids are small circular pieces of non-chromosomal DNA carrying a variable number of genes floating in the bacterial cell. These plasmids can self-replicate and transfer to other bacteria directly or from the environment. They are often beneficial to the bacteria’s host, but they perform different functions to help bacterial survival, including:

• Antibiotic resistance

• Virulence enhancement

• Toxin production

• Degradation and digestion of compounds not found in nature such as xylene and toluene.

• Secreting specialized proteins to target other bacteria as a defense

One of the most common treatments in veterinary medicine has been to use an antibiotic called metronidazole to treat diarrhea. Dr. Jennifer Granick, internal medicine specialist and professor at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, said at the AVMA convention in July that research is showing the negative impact on the gastrointestinal bacterial that are essential for gut health following treatment with antibiotics — including metronidazole.

What we have learned in the past several years is that the gut microbiome is an essential part of health. As Dr. Granick explained, these microbes provide a defensive barrier against potential pathogens. They help in the breakdown of digesta to not only provide nutrients to all the cells of the body, but also to the enterocytes (the cells doing the work of digestion) and help regulate the immunity and metabolizing substances that the body cannot such as drugs and supplements. Antibiotics have been shown to have little to no impact in cases of acute diarrhea.

So, you humans – use your prescribed antibiotics to completion for you and/or your pet, wash your hands and listen when your physician or veterinarian say that an antibiotic is not appropriate at that time.

Dr. Margot Vahrenwald is the owner of Park Hill Veterinary Medical Center at 2255 Oneida St. For more information, visit parkhillvet.com