How Glyphosate and Its Derivatives Influence Antimicrobial Resistance Emergence and Transmission: A One Health Perspective.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of mechanistic laboratory and mesocosm studies.
PubMed 42041382 · doi:10.3390/antibiotics15040419
What was done
The authors conducted a critical narrative synthesis of the literature examining how glyphosate, its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and commercial herbicide formulations influence bacterial resistance mechanisms and resistance dissemination across soil, aquatic, and host-associated microbiomes.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative values or effect sizes. Qualitatively, synthesized literature indicates that sublethal glyphosate exposure induces oxidative stress, alters membrane permeability, activates multidrug efflux pumps, promotes tolerance phenotypes, and increases mutation rates and horizontal gene transfer under controlled conditions. At the community level, exposure is linked to microbiome restructuring and enrichment of resistance determinants at environmentally relevant concentrations without major shifts in overall diversity.
Why it matters
This review outlines how non-antibiotic environmental pollutants like widespread agrochemicals can act as selective pressures driving antimicrobial resistance across One Health interfaces. It highlights the need to consider antimicrobial resistance endpoints in pesticide regulatory assessments.
Limits
The abstract provides no study counts or quantitative effect sizes. The underlying evidence is primarily derived from controlled laboratory and mesocosm models rather than real-world field settings, and host clinical outcomes are not evaluated.
Cited by
- context Glyphosate (Roundup) was originally patented as an antibiotic rather than as an herbicide.
- supports Glyphosate alters the soil microbiome by damaging the shikimate pathway.