Resistance to antibiotics and to immune system are interconnected in bacteria

Antibiotics and the immune system are the two forces that cope with bacterial infections. Now, two studies from Isabel Gordo's laboratory, at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC, Portugal), show for the first time that resistance to antibiotics and to the immune system is interconnected in bacteria. The researchers further discovered that bacteria adaptation to the immune system influences the spectrum of antibiotic resistance and, as a side effect, bacteria become more resistant to some antibiotics, but also more sensitive to other classes of antibiotics. These results were now published in the scientific journals Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy* and Evolutionary Applications**.