Prevalence of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli in foods and food-producing animals through the food chain: A worldwide systematic review and meta-analysis

LENCINA, FLORENCIA AYLEN; BERTONA, MATÍAS; STEGMAYER, MARÍA ANGELES; OLIVERO, CAROLINA RAQUEL; FRIZZO, LAUREANO SEBASTIÁN; ZIMMERMANN, JORGE ALBERTO; SIGNORINI, MARCELO LISANDRO; SOTO, LORENA PAOLA; ZBRUN, MARÍA VIRGINIA

Heliyon

Elsevier

Año: 2024 vol. 10

2405-8440

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize the available scientific evidence on the prevalence of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli strains isolated from foods and food-producing animals, the mobile colistin-resistant genes involved, and the impact of the associated variables. A systematic review was carried out in databases according to selection criteria and search strategies established a priori. Random-effect meta-analysis models were fitted to estimate the prevalence of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli and to identify the factors associated with the outcome. In general, 4.79% (95% CI: 3.98%–5.76%) of the food and food-producing animal samples harbored colistin-resistant Escherichia coli (total number of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli/total number of samples), while 5.70% (95% confidence interval: 4.97%–6.52%) of the E. coli strains isolated from food and food-producing animal samples harbored colistin resistance (total number of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli/total number of Escherichia coli isolated samples). The prevalence of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli increased over time (P < 0.001). On the other hand, 65.30% (95% confidence interval: 57.77%–72.14%) of colistin resistance was mediated by the mobile colistin resistance-1 gene. The mobile colistin resistance-1 gene prevalence did not show increases over time (P =0.640). According to the findings, other allelic variants (mobile colistin resistance 2–10 genes) seem to have less impact on prevalence. A higher prevalence of colistin resistance was estimated in developing countries (P