{"id":1840547,"date":"2023-02-09T07:22:33","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T12:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1840547"},"modified":"2023-02-09T07:24:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T12:24:48","slug":"antibiotic-resistance-increased-by-common-antidepressants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/antibiotic-resistance-increased-by-common-antidepressants\/","title":{"rendered":"Antibiotic Resistance Increased by Common Antidepressants"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fantibiotic-resistance-increased-by-common-antidepressants%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1840547&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>The well-known reason for a href=&#8221;Antibiotics&#8221; is the use of antibioticshttps:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-antibiotic-resistance&#8221;>antibiotic Resistance<\/a>, but they aren\u2019t the only common drug that\u2019s contributing to this global crisis, as demonstrated in a recent University of Queensland (UQ) study.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2208344120\">Study<\/a> Researchers led by Prof. Jianhua Guio, UQs Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology found that &#8220;a href=&#8221;https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-antidepressants&#8221;>antidepressants<\/a> Also, there is an increase in antibiotic resistance<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we know, antibiotics are major contributors in inducing the emergence of antibiotic resistance,\u201d Guo sent an email to The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>However, Guo said that little is known about antidepressants\u2019\u00a0capacity to also drive the spread of antibiotic resistance, although they\u00a0have been consumed at an increased rate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus, this finding to some extent, changed our understanding,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>The study was focused on prescription drugs that treat anxiety and depression, as well as other psychological conditions. It examined the effects of antidepressants on bacteria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the overuse of antibiotics is acknowledged as the major driver of bacterial resistance, we wanted to investigate if other common medications were contributing to the problem,\u201d Guo stated in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uq.edu.au\/news\/article\/2023\/01\/common-antidepressants-can-increase-antibiotic-resistance\">Release by UQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Australia is not unusual for mental health prescriptions.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aihw.gov.au\/mental-health\/topic-areas\/mental-health-prescriptions\">42.7 Million mental health-related medication<\/a>\u00a02020-2021 It is not unusual for the United States to have mental health prescriptions. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/products\/databriefs\/db419.htm#fig1\">2020 data<\/a>\u00a0This indicated that 16.5 percent had used a prescription medication within the last 12 months to improve their mental health.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2078199\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2016\/05\/28\/GettyImages-3123176-1200x802.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-2078199\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-3123176-600x401-1.jpg\" alt=\"A bottle of Effexor antidepressant pills in Miami, Fla., on March 23, 2004. FDA asked makers of popular antidepressants to add or strengthen suicide-related warnings on their labels as well as the possibility of worsening depression especially at the beginning of treatment or when the doses are increased or decreased. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\"   style=\"display:none\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2078199\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-3123176-600x401-1.jpg\" alt=\"A bottle of Effexor antidepressant pills in Miami, Fla., on March 23, 2004. FDA asked makers of popular antidepressants to add or strengthen suicide-related warnings on their labels as well as the possibility of worsening depression especially at the beginning of treatment or when the doses are increased or decreased. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> A bottle of Effexor antidepressant medication pills was purchased in Miami, Fla. on March 23, 2004. FDA asked antidepressants manufacturers to include or increase suicide-related warnings in their labels. Also, the possibility of depression worsening especially at the start of treatment and when doses are changed or increased. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>Antimicrobial Resistance<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/spotlight\/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019#:~:text=This%20watchlist%20for%20priority%20research,that%20could%20cause%20a%20serious\">World Health Organisation<\/a> It was identified in 2019 as one of the top 10 threats that global public health is facing from antimicrobial resistance.\u00a0Antimicrobial resistance makes infection more difficult and sometimes impossible to treat. This leads to many deaths.<\/p>\n<p>An estimated 4% of the world&#8217;s population will be living in 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\/news\/2022-01-20-estimated-12-million-people-died-2019-antibiotic-resistant-bacterial-infections\">1.27 Million<\/a> Antimicrobial resistance is a cause of death that exceeds the death rates of HIV\/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. A <a href=\"https:\/\/amr-review.org\/sites\/default\/files\/160518_Final%20paper_with%20cover.pdf\">2016 Review<\/a> estimated that the\u00a0annual death toll of antimicrobial infections could rise to 10 million by 2050 if global action is not taken.<\/p>\n<h2>The Antidepressants: A Test<\/h2>\n<p>Sertraline (Zoloft), bupropion, Lexapro), escitalopram [Lexapro], bupropion (Welbutrin], duloxetine(Cymbalta) and agomelatine (&#8220;Valdoxan&#8221;) were the antidepressants tested.\u00a0<span>Guo stated that all tested drugs can cause the emergence and spread of antibiotics.\u00a0<\/span>Resistance to antibiotics was strongest in the three most resistant bacteria, but fluoxetine, sertraline and duloxetine had the largest impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur study showed a marked increase in antibiotic resistance from those three, even at very low doses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSertraline and duloxetine exhibited the most significant effects, resulting in high numbers of resistant cells (compared to total cells) over a short time period,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is mainly associated with the drug\u2019s oxidative ability and chemical structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Professor Guo claimed that high levels of sertraline (50mg\/L) caused resistance to the anti-biotics chloramphenicol and tetracycline. He said that the fold changes of the ratio of resistant cell number to total cell number exhibited\u00a0an increase that\u2019s almost comparable to the changes observed under antibiotic resistance.<\/p>\n<p>Guo stated that large-scale screening has not yet been done to determine which antidepressant types are capable of triggering antibiotic resistance.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1908515\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2015\/11\/27\/GettyImages-760085511-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-1908515\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-760085511-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Bottles of antibiotics line a shelf at a Publix Supermarket pharmacy in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 7, 2007. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1908515\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/GettyImages-760085511-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Bottles of antibiotics line a shelf at a Publix Supermarket pharmacy in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 7, 2007. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> On August 7, 2007, antibiotic bottles lined a shelf in a Publix Supermarket Pharmacy in Miami, Fla. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>Antidepressants can increase antibiotic resistance<\/h2>\n<p>Guo pointed out that antidepressants may cause antibiotic resistance due to their antimicrobial qualities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can trigger bacteria to over-generate ROS, thus damaging and killing bacteria,\u201d He said.<\/p>\n<p>Guo said that\u00a0the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under exposure to antidepressants was measured, and an over-generation of ROS was found. Guo also stated that researchers had discovered gene expressions that were related to oxidative stresses.https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/publications\/dictionaries\/cancer-terms\/def\/upregulation&#8221;>upregulated<\/a>\u2014a process that cells undergo to increase their response to an outside substance or signal.<\/p>\n<p>Guo blamed this ROS overproduction on the drug&#8217;s strong oxidative capability, which causes oxidative stress in bacteria. \u201can SOS response.\u201d\u00a0He claimed that \u201cSOS response\u201d This triggers cell defense mechanisms that then allow the E.coli bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers also discovered that antidepressants could generate a positive mood.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC9322497\/\">Increased stress signature responses<\/a> stimulation of efflux pumps expression<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese responses would be beneficial for bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance,\u201d Guo said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example, stimulation of efflux pump will support bacteria to pump out antibiotics from intracellular to extracellular, thus compromising the efficacy of antibiotics, and making bacteria become multi-drug resistant.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_287082\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2013\/09\/pharmacy_76008490-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-287082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pharmacy_76008490-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-287082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/pharmacy_76008490-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> At Publix Supermarket Pharmacy, Aug. 7, 2007, in Miami, bottles of antibiotics line the shelves. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<h2>Possible Side-effects<\/h2>\n<p>Guo said that if a patient harbours\u00a0antibiotic-resistant bacteria caused by antidepressants, there is a risk for them to get a bacterial infection that is difficult to treat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdditionally, the antibiotic-like side effects of antidepressants might affect gut microbiota or gut health if some patients regularly take the drugs, which warrants more research,\u201d Guo said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is just our current speculation. It should be noted that more research is needed to fully assess any subsequent impacts on human health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that researchers are aiming to validate their findings first in an animal model and then conduct a cohort study in future.<\/p>\n<h2>Other Common Drugs That Increase Antibiotic Resistance<\/h2>\n<p>Antidepressants, which aren&#8217;t the only medication that promotes the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, aren&#8217;t the only ones. Guo stated that previous research had shown that anti-inflammatories as well as lipid-lowering drugs can increase antibiotic resistance via horizontal genetic transfer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAntibiotic resistance occurs and spreads when bacteria uptake free-living antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via bacterial transformation in response to the use of antibiotics,\u201d He stated this in a prior\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uq.edu.au\/news\/article\/2020\/05\/non-antibiotic-pharmaceuticals-linked-antibiotic-resistance\">Release by UQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The study investigated six common non-antibiotic medications and found that\u00a0nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, a lipid-lowering drug, and a \u03b2-blocker notably supported the bacterial transformation.<\/p>\n<p>Yue Wang, UQ Postdoctoral Research Fellow, stated that these findings are concerning because of the high use non-antibiotic medications. This raises concerns that non-antibiotics could accelerate the spread antibiotic resistance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are the iceberg of factors for promoting antibiotic resistance and should not be ignored,\u201d Guo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The well-known reason for a href=&#8221;Antibiotics&#8221; is the use of antibioticshttps:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-antibiotic-resistance&#8221;>antibiotic Resistance, but they aren\u2019t the only common drug that\u2019s contributing to this global crisis, as demonstrated in a recent University of Queensland (UQ) study. In a Study Researchers led by Prof. Jianhua Guio, UQs Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology found that &#8220;a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1840550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[18110,16478,6268,7729,15667],"class_list":["post-1840547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-antibiotic","tag-antidepressants","tag-common","tag-increased","tag-resistance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1840547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1840547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1840550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1840547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1840547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1840547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}