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Inappropriate use of antibiotics has been shown to contribute to the occurrence of multidrug-resistant organisms (MROs). A surveillance study was performed in the largest tertiary care hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 2018 to 2020 to observe the trends of broad-spectrum antibiotics (beta-lactam/beta-lactamases inhibitors (BL/BLI), extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC), and fluoroquinolones (FQ)) and antibiotics against MRO (carbapenems, polymyxins, and glycopeptides) usage and the correlation between antibiotic consumption and MROs. The correlation between 3-year trends of antibiotic consumption (defined daily dose (DDD)/100 admissions) with MRO infection cases (per 100 admissions) was determined using a Jonckheere-Terpstra test and a Pearson’s Correlation coefficient. The antimicrobial resistance trend demonstrated a positive correlation between ESC and FQ towards the development of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella spp, ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli), and MRO Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). Increasing carbapenem consumption was positively correlated with the occurrence of ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp and E. coli. Polymyxin use was positively correlated with ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp, MRO A. baumannii, and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The findings reinforced concerns regarding the association between MRO development, especially with a surge in ESC and FQ consumption. Stricter use of antimicrobials is thus crucial to minimise the risk of emerging resistant organisms.

No studies have investigated the influence of ethnicity in a multi-ethnic middle-income country with a long-standing history of co-habitation. Stool samples from 214 Malaysian community members (46 Malay, 65 Chinese, 49 Indian, and 54 Jakun) were collected. The gut microbiota of the participants was investigated using 16S amplicon sequencing. Ethnicity exhibited the largest effect size across participants (PERMANOVA Pseudo-F = 4.24, R2 = 0.06, p = 0.001). Notably, the influence of ethnicity on the gut microbiota was retained even after controlling for all demographic, dietary factors and other covariates which were significantly associated with the gut microbiome (PERMANOVA Pseudo-F = 1.67, R2 = 0.02, p = 0.002). Our result suggested that lifestyle, dietary, and uncharacterized differences collectively drive the gut microbiota variation across ethnicity, making ethnicity a reliable proxy for both identified and unidentified lifestyle and dietary variation across ethnic groups from the same community.

The gastrointestinal tract of humans and swine consist of a wide range of bacteria which interact with hosts metabolism. Due to the differences in co-evolution and co-adaptation, a large fraction of the gut microbiome is host-specific. In this study, we evaluated the effect of close human-animal interaction to the faecal metagenome and metabonome of swine, farmer and human control. Three distinct clusters were observed based on T-RFLP-derived faecal microbial composition. However, 16S-inferred faecal microbiota and metabolic profiles showed that only human control was significantly different from the swine (P Prevotella copri. Overall, we compared and established the relationship between the metabolites and microbiota composition of swine, farmers and human control. Based on the data obtained, we deduced that long term occupational exposure to swine and farm environment had affected the gut bacterial composition of farmers. Nonetheless, the effect was less prominent in the metabolite profiles, suggesting the gut bacteria expressed high functional plasticity and are therefore resilience to the level of community shift detected.

Gut microbiota plays an important role in mammalian host metabolism and physiological functions. The functions are particularly important in young children where rapid mental and physical developments are taking place. Nevertheless, little is known about the gut microbiome and the factors that contribute to microbial variation in the gut of South East Asian children. Here, we compared the gut bacterial richness and composition of pre-adolescence in Northern Malaysia. Our subjects covered three distinct ethnic groups with relatively narrow range of socioeconomic discrepancy. These included the Malays (n = 24), Chinese (n = 17) and the Orang Asli (indigenous) (n = 20). Our results suggested a strong ethnicity and socioeconomic-linked bacterial diversity. Highest bacterial diversity was detected from the economically deprived indigenous children while the lowest diversity was recorded from the relatively wealthy Chinese children. In addition, predicted functional metagenome profiling suggested an over-representation of pathways pertinent to bacterial colonisation and chemotaxis in the former while the latter exhibited enriched gene pathways related to sugar metabolism.