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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Emergence of New Antibiotic Resistant Gene (NDM-1)

It was in August 2010, The Lancet Infectious Diseases highlighted an article on  the emergence of a new antibiotic resistance gene producing an enzyme called New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase NDM-1. NDM-1 is being considered as the world's newest superbug, as it is highly resistant to almost all antibiotics including carbapenems.

NDM-1 is a Metallo Beta-Lactamase essentially found in Enterobacteriaceae  (principally E. coli and K. pneumoniae).

NDM-1 stands for New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1, since it was first identified  in a Swedish patient of Indian origin, who had been admitted to hospital in New Delhi, India in 2008.

The NDM-1 gene produces an enzyme which makes bacteria resistant to almost all beta-lactams including carbapenems Carbapenems are powerful, broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are often considered to be the last line of defence against multi-resistant strains of bacteria.

 The spread of the gene NDM-1 is from one strain of bacteria to another through the exchange of DNA(Transformation).

Links and Publications

1.Emergence of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism in India, Pakistan, and the UK: a molecular, biological, and epidemiological study

2.Characterization of a New Metallo-β-Lactamase Gene, blaNDM-1, and a Novel Erythromycin Esterase Gene Carried on a Unique Genetic Structure in Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 14 from India

3. .Emergence of metallo-β-lactamase NDM-1-producing multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Australia.