Researchers from the University of Tübingen and the University of Würzburg have discovered that the ingredients in our daily diet – including caffeine – can influence the resistance of antibiotic bacteria; They discovered that bacteria like They showed cold Orchestrate complex regulation waterfalls to react to the chemical stimuli of their direct environment which can influence the effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs.
This illustration represents a 3D image generated by computer of a group of They showed cold. Image credit: James Archer, CDC.
In systematic screening, Professor Ana Rita Brochado and his colleagues have studied how 94 different substances – including antibiotics, prescription drugs and food ingredients – influence the expression of key gene regulators and transport proteins for transport proteins They showed cold bacteria.
Transport proteins work like pores and pumps in the bacterial envelope and control which substances enter or leave the cell.
A finely adjusted balance of these mechanisms is crucial for the survival of bacteria.
“Our data show that several substances can subtly influence but systematically regulate genes in bacteria,” said PH.D. Student Christoph Binsfeld.
“The results suggest that even daily substances without direct antimicrobial effect – for example caffeinated drinks – can have an impact on certain gene regulators that control transport proteins, thus modifying what enters and leaves the bacteria.”
“Caffeine triggers a cascade of events starting with the Rob gene regulator and culminating in the change of several transport proteins in They showed cold – which in turn leads to reduced absorption of antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, “added Professor Rita Brochado.
“This results in the weakening of caffeine The effect of this antibiotic.”
Researchers describe this phenomenon as an “antagonistic interaction”.
This weakening effect of certain antibiotics was not detectable in Salmonella Entericaa pathogen closely linked to They showed cold.
This shows that even in similar bacterial species, the same environmental stimuli can lead to different reactions – perhaps due to differences in transport routes or their contribution to the absorption of antibiotics.
“Such a fundamental research on the effect of substances consumed daily emphasizes the vital role of science in understanding and resolution of real world problems,” said professor (Dōshisha) Karla Pollmann.
“The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of what is called resistance to” low level “antibiotics, which is not due to conventional resistance genes, but to regulation and environmental adaptation.”
“This could have implications for future therapeutic approaches, including what is taken during treatment and in what quantity, and if another drug or food ingredient – should be considered more.”
The results appear online in the newspaper Biology PLOS.
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C. Binsfeld and al. 2025. Systematic screen discovers the regulator’s contributions to chemical indices in They showed cold. Plos Biol 23 (7): E3003260; DOI: 10.1371 / Journal.pbio.3003260
