Abstract

Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Lactobacillus Isolates from Chicken's Gut

Authors: Muhammad Taha, Harun Ayoub and Maham Gul

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.71081/cvj/2024.056

Abstract
Extensive antibiotic usage in the poultry industry has led to emergence of antibiotic resistance which is one of the major One Health threats. Even commensal bacteria including Lactobacillus spp., which are normally perceived to be beneficial, can carry transferable resistance genes. To test the effectiveness of probiotics about their safety, this paper has explored the antibiotic resistance patterns in Lactobacillus spp. obtained from poultry in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Lactobacillus isolates (15) were recovered and identified by morphological, biochemical, and molecular (PCR) characteristics. Phenotypic sensitivity profiles of all the isolates were determined by the disc diffusion method against 12 antibiotics. Resistance to fluoroquinolones (enrofloxacin and levofloxacin), vancomycin and kanamycin were found in all the isolates. High resistance was also observed against ciprofloxacin (87%), ampicillin (67%), and ceftazidime (67%). Resistance against norfloxacin, imipenem, and erythromycin was found in 47%, 33%, and 27% of isolates. Whereas a low level of tetracycline resistance (7%) was recorded. None of the isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol. The presence of the erm(B) gene was found in 13% of isolates and half of these were phenotypically resistant with a strong correlation between phenotypic and molecular erythromycin resistance. However, all of the tested isolates were non-hemolytic, and most of them had good acid (pH 4.5), NaCl (4%), and bile salt (0.3%) tolerance, which are desirable probiotic characteristics. In brief, even with the promising operational probiotic properties of poultry-derived lactobacilli, the occurrence of acquired resistance renders most of them unsuitable as probiotics, which necessitates vigorous and multi-tier screening methods.

Keywords: Antibiotic Resistance; Lactobacillus; Poultry; Probiotics