Table 1. Gut Microbiota Modulation as a Tool Against Antimicrobial Resistance.
Intervention | Mechanism of action | Advantages | Disadvantages | References |
Diet and dietary supplements | -Wide variety, low fat and plant polysaccharide diet, low protein or
high in fiber diets preserve the bacterial diversity of the gut
microbiome and the colonization resistance. -Addition to the diet of substances such as konjac glucomannan, HMOs or some Chinese remedies protect the gut microbiome and promote its restoration. -Oral administration of IAP which maintains or even restores gut microbiota. |
-Simple to apply. -Accessible to everyone. -Naturally derived components so fewer side effects. |
-Lack of evidence in humans. | [53-57,59-61] |
Prebiotics and probiotics | -Prebiotics stimulate, while probiotics serve as, lactobacilli or
bifidobacterial that reduce the growth or interfere with the survival of
pathogenic microorganisms in the gut. -Targeted eradication of pathogens by newly developed engineered probiotics. |
-Easily accessible and administered. | -Difficult to find the most suitable probiotic for each dysbiosis
condition. -Data mainly on ICU patients. -Conflicting results in protecting gut microbiota from MDROs, especially gram(-) pathogens. -Reports of bacteremias in ICU patients. |
[65,66,71,73] |
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) | -Infusion of donor feces into patient’s gut (administered mainly orally)
in order to repopulate it with a healthy and balanced microbiota as a
weapon against C. difficile infections (especially
recurrent), as a “barrier” to colonization by multi-drug resistant
bacteria, and as a method of reducing the load of antibiotic resistance
genes. -Enhancing host responses. |
-Successful against difficult-to-treat situations. -High rates of effectiveness. |
-Lack of large randomized clinical trials. -Incidents of serious adverse events. |
[9,88-90,92,93,95-97,103,108,111-113] |
Antimicrobial compounds | -Use of bacteriocins to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria and preservation of gut microbiota. | -Targeted therapy. -Avoidance of using broad-spectrum antibiotics. |
-Lack of scientific data. -No available clinical trials. |
[119] |
Selective Digestive Decontamination (SDD) and Selective Oropharyngeal Decontamination (SOD) | -Prophylactic use of antibiotics to reduce the gut colonization with MDROs. | -Successful into wards with low rates of resistant bacteria. | -Lack of data in centers with high rates of resistance. -Need for rigorous surveillance of patients. |
[122-124,124,126,127] |
HMOs: human milk oligosaccharides, IAP: intestinal alkaline phosphatase, ICU: intensive care unit, MDRO: multi-drug resistant organism