Colistin-resistant E. coli gains resistance to innate human immunity

Researchers from the University of Oxford, U.K., have investigated the evolution of antibiotic resistance properties of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In the paper “The evolution of colistin resistance increases bacterial resistance to host antimicrobial peptides and virulence,” published in eLife, researchers detail a disturbing discovery of how a specific type of antimicrobial agent, colistin, could be training E. coli and possibly other pathogens to evade the human immune system better.