Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

Understanding the mechanisms and drivers of antimicrobial resistance

Holmes, A.H. et al.

2016

Read source ↗ All evidence

Summary

This influential review, published in The Lancet, provides a comprehensive synthesis of the biological mechanisms driving antimicrobial resistance alongside the ecological, clinical, and policy factors that accelerate its global spread. The authors examine resistance across human health, veterinary, and environmental settings, reflecting a One Health perspective. The paper is widely cited as a foundational reference for understanding AMR as a multisectoral public health challenge.

UK applicability

The paper's findings are directly applicable to the UK, which has a national AMR action plan and where antibiotic use in both human medicine and livestock farming is subject to ongoing regulatory scrutiny. UK agricultural and clinical policy on antibiotic stewardship draws on the mechanistic and epidemiological evidence that reviews such as this synthesise.

Key measures

Resistance mechanisms (enzymatic inactivation, efflux pumps, target modification); drivers of AMR (antibiotic consumption rates, agricultural use, infection control failures); burden of resistant infections

Outcomes reported

The paper examined the biological mechanisms underpinning antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the key drivers accelerating its emergence and spread, including antibiotic use in human medicine, agriculture, and the environment. It likely reported on resistance gene dissemination, selective pressure dynamics, and cross-sectoral transmission pathways.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Antimicrobial resistance & antibiotic stewardship
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Human clinical
Catalogue ID
XL0670

Topic tags

Pulse AI · ask about this record

Dig deeper with Pulse AI.

Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.