Publication
Title
Drug-resistant microorganisms with a higher fitness : can medicines boost pathogens?
Author
Abstract
Drug-resistant microorganisms (DRMs) are generally thought to suffer from a fitness cost associated with their drug-resistant trait, inflicting them a disadvantage when the drug pressure reduces. However, Leishmania resistant to pentavalent antimonies shows traits of a higher fitness compared to its sensitive counterparts. This is likely due the combination of an intracellular pathogen and a drug that targets the parasites general defense mechanisms while at the same time stimulating the hosts immune system, resulting in a DRM that is better adapted to withstand the hosts immune response. This review aims to highlight how this fitter DRM has emerged and how it might affect the control of leishmaniasis. However, this unprecedented example of fitter antimony-resistant Leishmania donovani is also of significance for the control of other microorganisms, warranting more caution when applying or designing drugs that attack their general defense mechanisms or interact with the hosts immune system.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Critical reviews in microbiology / Chemical Rubber Company [Cleveland, Ohio] - Cleveland, Ohio
Publication
Cleveland, Ohio : 2013
ISSN
1040-841X
1040-841X
DOI
10.3109/1040841X.2012.716818
Volume/pages
39 :4 (2013) , p. 384-394
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.03.2013
Last edited 07.10.2022
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