Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32413038›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2020

Antibiotics can be used to contain drug-resistant bacteria by maintaining sufficiently large sensitive populations.

Elsa Hansen, Jason Karslake, Robert J Woods, Andrew F Read, Kevin B Wood

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Pyocyanin produced byAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2026
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  9. Spatial population dynamics of bacterial colonies with social antibiotic resistance.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Elsa HansenCenter for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-1874-529X
Jason KarslakeDepartment of Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-1596-6866
Robert J WoodsDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-0679-9998
Andrew F ReadCenter for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and Departments of Biology and Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0001-7604-7903
Kevin B WoodDepartment of Biophysics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-0985-7401

Funding

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Collective Antibiotic Resistance in Microbial CommunitiesR35GM124875 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI WOOD, KEVIN · 2017 to 2024
$2.7M
The evolutionary biology of chemotherapy against infectious agents: towards ratiR01GM089932 · NIGMS · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · PI READ, ANDREW F. · 2010 to 2013
$1.1M
Population Dynamics of Rotavirus: A Combined Theoretical, Bioinformatic and Laboratory Based ApproachK08AI119182 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI WOODS, ROBERT J · 2016 to 2020
$960k
NIAID NIH HHS K08 AI119182NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM089932NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM124875
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Standard infectious disease practice calls for aggressive drug treatment that rapidly eliminates the pathogen population before resistance can emerge. When resistance is absent, this elimination strategy can lead to complete cure. However, when resistance is already present, removing drug-sensitive cells as quickly as possible removes competitive barriers that may slow the growth of resistant cells. In contrast to the elimination strategy, a containment strategy aims to maintain the maximum tolerable number of pathogens, exploiting competitive suppression to achieve chronic control. Here, we combine in vitro experiments in computer-controlled bioreactors with mathematical modeling to investigate whether containment strategies can delay failure of antibiotic treatment regimens. To do so, we measured the "escape time" required for drug-resistant Escherichia coli populations to eclipse a threshold density maintained by adaptive antibiotic dosing. Populations containing only resistant cells rapidly escape the threshold density, but we found that matched resistant populations that also contain the maximum possible number of sensitive cells could be contained for significantly longer. The increase in escape time occurs only when the threshold density-the acceptable bacterial burden-is sufficiently high, an effect that mathematical models attribute to increased competition. The findings provide decisive experimental confirmation that maintaining the maximum number of sensitive cells can be used to contain resistance when the size of the population is sufficiently large.

Indexed as

Drug Resistance, BacterialMicrobial InteractionsModels, BiologicalAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacterial InfectionsBioreactorsContainment of BiohazardsEscherichia coliHumansAnti-Bacterial Agents

Identifiers

PMID32413038
PMCPMC7266357

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.