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New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1
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<p>NDM-1 is an <a href="/facts/Enzyme/DSI1Fh7y">enzyme</a> that makes <a href="/facts/Bacteria/wC8xSCsU">bacteria</a> <a href="/facts/Antibiotic_resistance/jsbAywgx">resistant</a> to a broad range of <a href="/facts/Beta-lactam_antibiotic/MTqEtwsg">beta-lactam antibiotics</a>. These include the antibiotics of the <a href="/facts/Carbapenem/ydKuuwfQ">carbapenem</a> family, which are a mainstay for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. The gene for NDM-1 is one member of a large <a href="/facts/Gene_family/L5jX8Psg">gene family</a> that encodes <a href="/facts/Beta-lactamase/8PdHT21m">beta-lactamase</a> <a href="/facts/Enzyme/DSI1Fh7y">enzymes</a> called <a href="/facts/Beta-lactamase/8PdHT21m">carbapenemases</a>. Bacteria that produce carbapenemases are often referred to in the news media as "<a href="/facts/Antibiotic_resistance/jsbAywgx">superbugs</a>" because infections caused by them are difficult to treat. Such bacteria are usually sensitive only to <a href="/facts/Polymyxin/gnUNBPmH">polymyxins</a> and <a href="/facts/Tigecycline/03JBAmzM">tigecycline</a>. </p><p>NDM-1 was first detected in 2008 in a culture plate of <i><a href="/facts/Klebsiella_pneumoniae/edtyTP4E">Klebsiella pneumoniae</a></i> isolated from a <a href="/facts/Sweden/u3qC7lyj">Swedish</a> patient of Indian origin. It was later detected in bacteria in India, <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistan</a>, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, Egypt, and Iraq. </p><p>The most common bacteria that make this enzyme are <a href="/facts/Gram-negative_bacteria/S1PbVtp4">gram-negative</a> such as <i><a href="/facts/Escherichia_coli/nR4Gvl56">Escherichia coli</a></i> and <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>, but the gene for NDM-1 can spread from one strain of bacteria to another by <a href="/facts/Horizontal_gene_transfer/FPyUIsf2">horizontal gene transfer</a>. </p>