Can we use novel drug-diet therapies that combine strategic use of macronutrient manipulation and calorie restriction to slow the evolution of virulence and antibiotic resistance? By the way, virulence and antibiotic resistance emerge almost simultaneously in numerous systems, yet we understand very little about these connections.
Photo credit: Cristiana Couciero
DruG-Diet therapy & the evolution of Antibiotic resistance
Nutrient manipulation can prevent the evolution of drug resistance in some malaria parasites, cancers, and bacteria because resistance mechanisms are energetically costly—both to produce and acquire. Therefore, starving pathogens of essential nutrients could inhibit them from being able to develop the very tools they need to outsmart our most sophisticated biomedical interventions.
Still, despite the promise of these more “evolution-proof” interventions, the role of nutrient manipulation in slowing the emergence of resistance remains poorly understood.
Our theoretical work suggests that by ignoring nutrient-resistance links, dietary recommendations (e.g., in hospitals and feedlots) could inadvertently fuel the evolution of more harmful - and more resistant - pathogens. To test these predictions, research in the lab combines detailed physiological assays with experimental evolution assays in multiple host-pathogen systems.
To go beyond the lab, we are also examining broad-scale patterns to understand how management practices and global change contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in livestock and other species (including humans) in the surrounding communities.