Othercited by the Tayebat archiveabstract only checked★ key study A-CHK-11 in-depth review
Discovery of transferable colistin resistance (mcr-1) in China
Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study.
Overview
Liu YY et al.. Lancet Infect Dis 2016 · PMID 26603172 · DOI 10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00424-7
A transferable gene making bacteria resistant to the last-resort antibiotic colistin was found in animals, meat and some patients.
Does the study support the specific claim? Yes · Methodological quality: high
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Is there plasmid-mediated polymyxin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in China?
- How was the study done?
Surveillance plus microbiological and molecular study discovering plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr-1)
- How many people, animals or samples were studied?
804 animals; 523 raw meat samples; 1,322 inpatient samples; E. coli and K. pneumoniae from food animals, raw meat and inpatients in five provinces
- What was actually found?
mcr-1 in 166/804 (21%) animals, 78/523 (15%) raw meat, 16/1322 (1%) inpatients; transferable by conjugation; negated colistin in mice.
- How large was the observed effect?
Descriptive; conjugation frequencies; mouse model
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Farm antibiotic use can threaten important human medicines.
- What are the study's limitations?
China-specific surveillance; Index strain from a pig; poultry-specific share not given in abstract
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Supports resistance concern.
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
Moderate.
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Not specific to chicken.
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- Liu YY, Wang Y, Walsh TR, Yi LX, Zhang R, Spencer J, Doi Y, Tian G, Dong B, Huang X, Yu LF, Gu D, Ren H, Chen X, Lv L, He D, Zhou H, Liang Z, Liu JH, Shen J
- Journal
- Lancet Infect Dis
- Year
- 2016
- Identifier
- PMID 26603172 DOI 10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00424-7
- Verification
- verified – PubMed E-utilities efetch, 2026-10-25
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
- none
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
No COI statement; MRC and Chinese funding
2. Research question
Is there plasmid-mediated polymyxin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in China?
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Other – Surveillance plus microbiological and molecular study discovering plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr-1)
- Population
E. coli and K. pneumoniae from food animals, raw meat and inpatients in five provinces
- Country
China
- Period
April 2011-November 2014
- Sample size
804 animals; 523 raw meat samples; 1,322 inpatient samples
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Surveillance isolates
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
mcr-1 carriage
- Comparator
Not applicable
- Endpoints
Prevalence; transferability; in-vivo efficacy
- Statistical methods
Descriptive; conjugation frequencies; mouse model
5. Actual results
- Results
mcr-1 in 166/804 (21%) animals, 78/523 (15%) raw meat, 16/1322 (1%) inpatients; transferable by conjugation; negated colistin in mice.
- Absolute risks
not applicable
- Authors' conclusion
MCR-1 heralds breach of polymyxins; urgent global action needed.
6. Strengths
- Landmark discovery
- Mechanistic confirmation
7. Weaknesses
- China-specific surveillance
- Index strain from a pig; poultry-specific share not given in abstract
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- none applicable
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- low
- Rationale
Discovery study.
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
Descriptive.
10. Relevance to the specific claim
11. Independent contrary findings
Prevalence in other countries not covered.
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
Moderate.
13. Overall methodological judgement
Key study; slight misattribution to chicken.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | high |
| Risk of bias | low |
| Precision of results | moderate |
| Directness | indirect |
| Reproducibility | replicated |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | consistent |
| Regional transferability | moderate |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | partly correct but over-interpreted |
14. Open questions
Current prevalence.
15. Linked fact checks
Use by the Tayebat archive
Note: according to the archive, the studies were compiled by the archive operators. Whether Dr. Elawady himself cited this study is not established.
- What the archive says about the study
Plasmid-borne mcr-1 was found in 21% of Chinese livestock and 15% of raw meat, then in human patients.
- A. What was actually studied?
mcr-1 in animals, meat and humans.
- B. What did the authors find?
As quoted.
- C. What conclusions do the authors themselves draw?
Global action needed.
- D. What does the archive derive from it?
Arabic card says ~20% in "Chinese chicken samples", directly linked to industrial poultry.
- E. Is this derivation scientifically justified?
Partly overinterpreted: the abstract reports animals generally (index strain from a pig), not chicken specifically; the sequence "then reached humans" is inferred.
- Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive)
- partly correct but over-interpreted