How gut microbiome communities build resilience to drugs
Oeiras, 16 October 2024
Many pharmaceuticals can inhibit the growth and alter the function of the bacteria that constitute our gut microbiome. A recent paper, co-first authored by ITQB NOVA PI Sarela Garcia-Santamarina, shows that this effect is reduced when bacteria form communities.
The study, conducted during the researcher’s postdoctoral work at EMBL and published in Cell, shows that certain bacteria, normally sensitive to drugs, survive and thrive when in a microbial community, thanks to protective behaviors from drug-resistant species.
This groundbreaking research, conducted by EMBL alumni and researchers, involved testing the effects of 30 different drugs on 32 bacterial species representative of the human gut microbiome, growing in isolation versus as part of a complex community. The findings suggest that bacteria within communities use cross-protection mechanisms to withstand drug exposure - processes where resistant species either take up or break down the drugs, shielding more vulnerable species.
“We were not expecting so much resilience,” said Sarela Garcia-Santamarina. “It was very surprising to see that in up to half of the cases where a bacterial species was affected by the drug when grown alone, it remained unaffected in the community.”
However, the study also found that these protective effects diminish at higher drug concentrations, causing the microbial community to collapse and leading to increased sensitivity to the drugs.
This research represents a significant advance in understanding how the gut microbiome interacts with drugs. Mapping and understanding interactions within the community context may help scientists design improved therapies with fewer side effects and higher drug efficacy in the future.
Original paper
Cell | Emergence of community behaviors in the gut microbiota upon drug treatment
Sarela Garcia-Santamarina, Michael Kuhn, Saravanan Devendran, Lisa Maier, Marja Driesse, André Mateus, Eleonora Mastrorilli, Ana Rita Brochado, Mikhail M. Savitski, Kiran R. Patil, Michael Zimmermann, Peer Bork, Athanasios Typas
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.037
Image: Bacterial community protection against drug treatments. Credit: Isabel Romero Calvo/EMBL
