Open AccessNew Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1: A weapon for the newly emerging drug-resistant bacteria
Author(s) -
Sanghamitra Padhi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
indian journal of medical sciences/indian journal of medical sciences (print)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1998-3654
pISSN - 0019-5359
DOI - 10.18203/issn.0019-5359.indianjmedsci20170487
Subject(s) - bacteria , life span , escherichia coli , klebsiella pneumoniae , gene , population , microbiology and biotechnology , new delhi , biology , medicine , genetics , environmental health , metropolitan area , pathology , evolutionary biology
The world has seen the emergence of many micro-organisms in the recent past which can curb the human population with their newly built genetic make-up. The latest addition to this list of panic creating organisms is, bacteria encoding the gene for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)-1. NDM-1 is an enzyme that can hydrolyse and inactivate carbapenems, which are used as a last resort for the treatment of multiresistant bacterial infections. Name of these bacteria were not found in the medical literature before December 2009, because of which it can take the credit of becoming a powerful emerging bacteria which are difficult to treat. Besides Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae , other bacterial strains have also expressed the gene for NDM-1, which are detected in many countries.