China Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (7): 3479-3488.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2025.07.046

• Basic Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress on Relationship Between Plant Extracts and Horizontal Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Carried by Plasmids

WANG Xueyang1,2,3, LIN Zhan1,2,3, LI Jiachen1,2,3, XI Peng1,2,3, ZHANG Hewei1,2,3   

  1. 1. College of Food and Drugs, Luoyang Polytechnic, Luoyang 471000, China;
    2. Luoyang Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Immunoprophylaxis of Animal Viral Diseases, Luoyang 471000, China;
    3. The Geographical Indication Medicines and Life Health Engineering Research Center of Henan Province, Luoyang 471000, China
  • Received:2024-10-31 Online:2025-07-05 Published:2025-07-01

Abstract: The emergence of antibiotic resistance represents a significant challenge to public health,undermining the considerable progress made over decades in combating bacterial infections.The dearth of novel and efficacious antimicrobial agents,coupled with the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within the ecosystem,has served to exacerbate the dissemination of resistance.Among these mechanisms,plasmid-mediated conjugation represents the primary means by which ARGs disseminate among humans,animals,and the environment.The conjugative transfer of ARGs is frequently driven by antibiotic pressure.Moreover,certain non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals have also been observed to facilitate the horizontal transfer of ARGs.However,the role of natural compounds in non-antibiotic drugs,particularly plant extracts,in the horizontal transfer of ARGs has been undervalued.Accordingly,this review initially delineated the principal route of horizontal transfer of ARGs,namely conjugation.Thereafter,it delineated the utilization of plant extracts in the livestock and poultry industry and explored the role of plant extracts in promoting or inhibiting conjugation,and discussed the potential and challenges of applying these conjugation inhibitors in clinical trials,so as to guide the clinical development of more reasonable dosage regimens and drug residue standards.

Key words: antibiotic resistance; resistance genes; plant extracts; conjugation inhibitors

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