Molecular Mechanisms of Antibacterial Multidrug Resistance, Research Paper Example

Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics are chemicals secreted bacteria in a manner that allow them to effectively compete with one another for available resources (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 2009). Different strains release different chemical structures in order to create a distinct competitive environment. Humans have harnessed this ability for the purposes of medicine, as certain antibiotics are very effective at inhibiting the growth of or killing different bacterial strains. However, it is important to consider that some antibiotics are poisonous against humans and animals as well, so it is important to consider the type of antibiotic used in addition to its related dosing in order to determine what an effective treatment would be for a particular illness.

There are many types of antibiotics that are commercially available on the market today. While many of these antibiotics are harvested naturally from the bacteria that produce them, there are many artificially constructed antibiotics also available. The first man-made antibiotic was created by Alfred Bertheim and Paul Ehrlich in 1907, and is known as arsphenamine. It was used primarily to treat syphilis, which had previously proven very challenging to eliminate from the body. Since this point in time, the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has become very common.

As the use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has become more common, certain strains of bacteria have become resistant to this treatment method (Alekshun et al., 2007). This is primarily because antibiotics are being prescribed to individuals in which their disease state is unknown. Therefore, many individuals are mistakenly being prescribed antibiotics for viral infections, which contributes to this effect. Ultimately, bacterial resistance can be considered a part of an evolutionary process that allows the bacterial strains to gain traits that will help them survive.

Antibiotic resistance is typically acquired as a result of a random genetic mutation that allows a bacterium or group of bacteria to survive against an antibiotic (Hawkey, 2008). When an antibiotic is used, therefore, the drug will kill all susceptible bacteria while the few particles that are resistant will remain. After this occurs, this remaining bacteria will have decreased competition for nutrition and space, and will be allowed to grow rapidly. As a consequence, bacterial colonies that are completely resistant to the antibiotic will form, as the antibiotic acts as a type of natural selection that selects for only resistant strains of bacteria.

The resistant trait that same bacteria develop as a consequence of this process have had an impact on the diversity of bacteria. This environment requires that bacteria evolve at a rapid rate, and strains have shown that they are capable of becoming antibiotic resistant to a series of different drugs, which indicates that this evolution pathway is a direct consequence of their need to survive.

Humans have had an interesting impact on the diversity of bacteria for matters other than their antibiotic use. It is important to consider that bacteria naturally live within and on the human body in symbiotic relationships that allow both humans and bacteria to benefit. However, the food people eat, their activity, and other factors can impact the type of balance that exists between these two organisms. In most cases, bacteria are beneficial to humans, and humans are beneficial to bacteria. Some strains of bacteria work to keep the populations of other strains in balance so that these strains do not get the human host sick. Meanwhile, humans act as a host for the bacteria, providing them with nutrition and space, in addition to the correct environment they need to reproduce and thrive. In some instances, the relationship between humans and bacteria are more communal; one will benefit while the other doesn’t feel an effect. Depending on the strain and the location of the bacteria, the organism that will benefit can vary. Furthermore, bacteria can enter into a parasitic relationship with humans when body conditions either cause it to grow to too large of a population or trigger the need of the bacteria to inhabit a different niche. While the parasitic relationship is not a normal condition between the two organisms, it is important to consider that these resulting effects are the ones that humans typically think of as being a disadvantage. The positive and negative impacts of the bacteria-human relationship are ultimately what impact the evolution of bacteria.

The human body has evolved in many ways to cope with bacterial infections, which includes the use of the immune system to occasionally target and destroy some of these microorganisms. In reaction to these defenses, bacteria have evolved many different structures that help them bypass their recognition as invaders, which is typically by altering the proteins on the outer part of the membrane. As bacteria continue to sense a need to cope, they will continue to evolve. Ultimately, this is different from the concept of superbugs because these strains develop as a consequence of deliberate human attempt to destroy these microorganisms rather than natural processes. However, both of these activities trigger the evolution of these organisms, as the bacterial strains must do what it necessary in order to survive. Prior to the development of antibiotics, this survival was just against the human body, but now bacteria have an extra need to make alterations in order to remain able to live in a human host.

Malaria

Evidence of the existence of malaria has persisted for the past several centuries. This disease is typically transmitted through mosquitos and other bugs that are native to tropical areas. When the disease was first detected, not much was known regarding its treatment, which has resulted in an endemic in many afflicted regions. It is important to consider that a majority of ignorance pertaining to this disease is related to the uncertainty that individuals had concerning its cause. While a majority of the ailments that plague humans are either bacterial or viral in nature, malaria is caused by a parasite (Shah, 2010). Therefore, already created antivirals and antibiotics have no effect against the harmful consequences of this disorder. Furthermore, despite the fact that modern medical professionals are aware about the nature of malaria as a parasite, there is not effective medication available that is able to completely rid people of the disease.

Currently, we understand that malaria is challenging to treat because microorganisms of the genus Plasmodium, have different lifecycle stages. While drugs have been developed to remove the parasite in some of its stages, a drug has yet to be created that could target all stages simultaneously. Therefore, modern physicians tend to use methods that treat the symptoms of the disease in addition to preventative methods that are meant to reduce the severity of the disease in the population (WHO, n.d.).

Understanding of Malaria Causes and Prevention throughout History

 Summary of Malaria

Non Infectious Disease Report

Non infectious diseases are not caused by external factors, and instead by genetics, the environment, and lifestyle choices (Dr. Health, n.d.). Genetics cause non-infectious diseases because these factors impact how an individual will react to the environment with regards to which genes are turned on and off and which mutations will occur. Some diseases can be caused by an overexpression or underexpression of these genes. In other cases, a gene itself could represent a disease, and the mere presence of the gene indicates that the individual will have the disease. Next, environmental factors are able to impact genetic factors by switching genes on and off and mutating them. In addition pollution and other environmental factors are able to create disease tissue, facilitating sickness. Genetic and environmental factors often play hand in hand to cause disease, especially in instances in which the symptoms take a long period of time to appear. Last, lifestyle choices can alter tissue as well. Obesity is caused by lifestyle choices, such as lack of exercise and poor diet, and contributes to damage in bone structure and alters the efficacy of different organ systems. These lifestyle choices can lead to a variety of related problems, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The categories of these non-infectious diseases indicate that there are many different ways that these diseases can be prevented. With the exception of genetic factors, diseases caused by environmental factors and lifestyle choices can be avoided altogether due to a change in behavior.

Scurvy is a non-infectious disease that results from vitamin C deficiency. This vitamin is needed for collagen synthesis in the skin that is used to support the tightness of this structure. Its symptoms include malaise and lethargy, in addition to physical symptoms including spots on the skin, spongy gums, and bleeding from the mucous membranes. As the disease becomes more intense, the bleeding symptoms can worsen, teeth can be lost, and the victim could eventually die as a consequence of hemorrhage (Bown, 2004). This disease primarily occurred among sailors because they were not able to consume foods that could not be preserved. As a consequence vitamin C was not a component of their diet and many of them fell sick and died as a consequence of this illness. In this case, it is clear that scurvy is an environmentally caused noninfectious disease because there is typically no vitamin c to be accessed by the individuals that get it. Many of the individuals that suffer from this illness today are in third world nations where there is a general lack of nutrition available. In all situations, scurvy can be treated using vitamin C supplements and it is expected that the disease state will return to normal in approximately 2 weeks (Martini, 2002).

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that results as a consequence of primarily environmental and genetic factors, although it can be caused by lifestyle choices as well. This disease is caused as a consequence of the ability of ultraviolet rays to strike and damage the DNA in skin (American Academy of Dermatology, n.d.). When this occurs, genes are modified in a manner that causes them to rapidly replicate, creating a tumor formation. This disease is related to genetic factors because some individuals have genes that are already mutated that require less ultraviolet action to trigger the cancer. In addition, it is related to environmental factors because it is caused by exposure to sunlight. Furthermore, lifestyle choices, such as tanning, could put individuals at an increased for getting this disease because it increases the amount of ultraviolet rays that they are exposed to during a short period of time (Halachmi et al., 2001). Melanoma is considered to be non-infectious because the cells that turn into tumor cells belong to the host and are not caused by a foreign invader. The early symptoms of melanoma includes abnormal mole growth on the skin. These moles typically do not look like any other mole on the body and may be strangely shaped. Other symptoms begin when the mole starts to feel itchy, bleed, or feel painful. Furthermore, if the mole is growing in size there is cause for concern. Individuals with melanoma are typically treated by having it removed surgically, although chemotherapy or radiotherapy made be used to destroy any trace cells that were not removed during the operation.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that many affected individuals are born with. This disease is genetic due to mutations that occurred when the child was in the womb (Mayo Clinic, n.d.). While this disorder mostly impacts the lungs, it has the potential to target the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine as well. Although the symptoms vary depending upon the afflicted individual, symptoms generally include sinus infections, poor growth, fatty stool, clubbing of the finger, and toes, and infertility. For a child to be impacted by the disease, his or her parents must have had the disease or the disease must have run in their family and therefore the parents were carriers of the disease. This is because an afflicted child must have two copies of a recessive gene in order to display disease traits. The disease is diagnosed using a sweat test in addition to genetic testing. In some locations, parents can receive a genetic screening as a part of their family planning process to determine the likelihood that their children will have this disease (Massie et al., 2013). There is no cure for the disease, but antibiotics can be used to treat ling infections as they occur. Furthermore, therapies that involve taking replacement enzymes and vitamins to compensate for those that are not produced by the body are taken as well. Even though the disease creates many complications, individuals with the disorder can live to be up to 50 years old if they are provided with the correct therapy.

References

Alekshun M.N.; Levy S.B. (2007). Molecular mechanisms of antibacterial multidrug resistance. Cell, 128(6): 1037–50

American Academy of Dermatology. (n.d.). Melanoma: Signs and symptoms. Retrieved from https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/m—p/melanoma/signs-   symptoms

Bown, S.R. (2004). SCURVY: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentleman Discovered the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail. Thomas Dunne Books.

CDC. (n.d.). About Malaria. Retrieved from http://.cdc.gov/malaria/about/disease.html

Dr. Health. (n.d.). Non Infectious Diseases. Retrieved from http://www.drhealth.md/non- infectious-diseases/

Halachmi, S; Gilchrest, BA. (2001). Update on genetic events in the pathogenesis of melanoma. Current Opinion in Oncology, 13 (2): 129–136.

Hawkey, P.M. (2008). The growing burden of antimicrobial resistance. J. Antimicrob. Chemother., 62 Suppl 1: i1.

Martini, E. (2002). Jacques Cartier witnesses a treatment for scurvy. Vesalius, 8(1): 2–6.

Massie, J; Delatycki, MB (2013). Cystic fibrosis carrier screening. Paediatric respiratory reviews, 14(4): 270–5.

Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Definition. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cystic-fibrosis/basics/definition/con-20013731

MCW Healthcare. (n.d.). Malaria Drugs. Retrieved from http://www.mcwhealthcare.com/malaria_drugs_medicines/malaria.htm

Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th Edition. (2009). Elsevier.

Packard, R.M. (2007). The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria. Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease. JHU Press.

Shah, S. (2010). The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years. Macmillan.

WHO. (n.d.). Malaria. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en