Evaluation of commercial veterinary probiotics containing enterococci for transferrable vancomycin resistance genes
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Objective: Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) are of significant public health concern. The identification of VRE in livestock and food has increased. The objective of this study was to determine if the transferrable vancomycin resistance genes vanA and vanB were present in probiotics marketed for use in animals that claimed to contain Enterococcus spp. Results: Of the 40 products selected, Enterococcus spp. DNA was successfully extracted from 36 products. Of these 36 products with enterococcal DNA, 2 (6%) had a PCR product consistent with vanA which was confirmed by sequencing. None of the products appeared to contain vanB.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Commercial probiotic products may contain ARGs or transferable resistance determinants, although the level of risk varies substantially among product types, bacterial taxa and analytical pipelines.
“Previous studies have shown that commercial probiotic products may contain ARGs or transferable resistance determinants, although the level of risk varies substantially among product types, bacterial taxa and analytical pipelines [15,16,17,18,19,20].”
From Integrated Phenotypic and Sequencing-Based Resistome Assessment of Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants in a Sample of Commercial Farm-Animal Probiotic Products (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
The Results and Discussion report vanA, a transferable vancomycin-resistance gene, in two commercial veterinary probiotics containing Enterococcus DNA. The paper does not establish that risk varies substantially across product types, bacterial taxa, or analytical pipelines; its Limitations instead caution that PCR detection alone does not establish viable resistant bacteria or quantify risk. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBerreta et al. evaluated commercial veterinary probiotic products containing enterococci for vanA and vanB and emphasized the relevance of monitoring these genes in animal products.
“Berreta et al. specifically evaluated commercial veterinary probiotic products containing enterococci for vanA and vanB and emphasized the relevance of monitoring these genes in animal products [19].”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Hill (2014) · doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2014.66 · Cited by 9,592 · see citing works
Multilocus Sequence Typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae Nosocomial Isolates
Diancourt, L., Passet, V., Verhoef, J., Grimont, P. A. D., & Brisse, S. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.43.8.4178-4182.2005 · Cited by 1,342 · see citing works
Chang, S., Sievert, D. M., Hageman, J. C., Boulton, M. L., Tenover, F. C., Downes, F. P., Shah, S., Rudrik, J. T., Pupp, G. R., Brown, W. J., et al. (2003) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa025025 · Cited by 1,095 · see citing works
Vancomycin Resistance in Gram-Positive Cocci
Courvalin, P. (2006) · Clinical Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1086/491711 · Cited by 1,028 · see citing works
Genetic Analysis of a High-Level Vancomycin-Resistant Isolate of Staphylococcus aureus
Weigel, L. M., Clewell, D. B., Gill, S. R., Clark, N. C., McDougal, L. K., Flannagan, S. E., Kolonay, J. F., Shetty, J., Killgore, G., & Tenover, F. C. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1090956 · Cited by 889 · see citing works
Enterococci: From Commensals to Leading Causes of Drug Resistant Infection
Gilmore, M. S., Clewell, D. B., Ike, Y., & Shankar, N. (2014) · Cited by 794 · see citing works
Antibiotic resistance in food lactic acid bacteria—a review
Mathur, S., & Singh, R. (2005) · International Journal of Food Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2005.03.008 · Cited by 754 · see citing works
Industrial Food Animal Production, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Human Health
Silbergeld, E. K., Graham, J. P., & Price, L. B. (2008) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.29.020907.090904 · Cited by 636 · see citing works
Development of a PCR Assay for Rapid Detection of Enterococci
Ke, D., Picard, F. J., Martineau, F., et al. (1999) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.37.11.3497-3503.1999 · Cited by 419 · see citing works
Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolate from a Patient in Pennsylvania
Tenover, F. C., Weigel, L. M., Appelbaum, P. C., McDougal, L. K., Chaitram, J. M., McAllister, S. K., Clark, N. C., Killgore, G., O'Hara, C. M., Jevitt, L. A., et al. (2003) · Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy · doi:10.1128/aac.48.1.275-280.2004 · Cited by 370 · see citing works
(BIOHAZ), E. P. O. B. H. (2013) · EFSA Journal · doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3449 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
Enterococci: Between Emerging Pathogens and Potential Probiotics
Braïek, O. B., & Smaoui, S. (2019) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2019/5938210 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
Emergence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci
Rice, L. B. (2001) · Emerging infectious diseases · doi:10.3201/eid0702.010205 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Enterococcal Infection—Treatment and Antibiotic Resistance
Kristich, C. J., Rice, L. B., & Arias, C. A. (2014) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Lester, C. H., Frimodt‐Møller, N., Sørensen, T. L., Monnet, D. L., & Hammerum, A. M. (2006) · Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy · doi:10.1128/aac.50.2.596-599.2006 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Nagashima, K., Hisada, T., Sato, M., & Mochizuki, J. (2003) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.69.2.1251-1262.2003 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Movable genetic elements and antibiotic resistance in enterococci
Clewell, D. B. (1990) · European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1007/bf01963632 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus--New York, 2004.
(2004) · PubMed · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Microbiologic evaluation of commercial probiotics
Weese, J. S. (2002) · Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association · doi:10.2460/javma.2002.220.794 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from animals and food
Robredo, B., Singh, K. V., Baquero, F., Murray, B. E., & Torres, C. (2000) · International Journal of Food Microbiology · doi:10.1016/s0168-1605(99)00195-6 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Assessment of commercial probiotic bacterial contents and label accuracy.
Weese, J. S., & Martin, H. (2011) · PubMed Central · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Vignaroli, C., Zandri, G., Aquilanti, L., et al. (2011) · Current Microbiology · doi:10.1007/s00284-011-9880-x · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Naas, T., Fortineau, N., Snanoudj, R., et al. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.43.8.3642-3649.2005 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Species distribution, antibiotic resistance and virulence traits in enterococci from meat in Tunisia
Klibi, N., Said, L. B., Jouini, A., Slama, K. B., López, M., Sallem, R. B., Boudabous, A., & Torres, C. (2012) · Meat Science · doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2012.11.020 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Sparo, M., Urbizu, L., Solana, M. V., Pourcel, G., Delpech, G., Confalonieri, A., Ceci, M., & Bruni, S. F. S. (2012) · Letters in Applied Microbiology · doi:10.1111/j.1472-765x.2011.03182.x · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Molina, M. A., Díaz, A. M., Hesse, C., Ginter, W., Gentilini, M. V., Nuñez, G. G., Canellada, A. M., Sparwasser, T. D., Berod, L., Castro, M. S., et al. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127262 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Werner, G., Klare, I., Fleige, C., Geringer, U., Witte, W., Just, H.-M., & Ziegler, R. (2012) · Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control · doi:10.1186/2047-2994-1-21 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Weese, J. S., Anderson, M., Lowe, A., et al. (2003) · PubMed · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Gousia, P., Economou, V., Bozidis, P., et al. (2015) · Foodborne Pathogens and Disease · doi:10.1089/fpd.2014.1832 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Khan, S. A., Nawaz, M. S., Khan, A. A., et al. (2004) · Molecular and Cellular Probes · doi:10.1016/j.mcp.2004.09.001 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Тарасова, Е. А., Yermolenko, E., Донец, В. Н., Sundukova, Z., Bochkareva, A., Borsсhev, I., Suvorova, M. A., Ilyasov, I., Simanenkov, V. I., & Suvorov, A. N. (2010) · Beneficial Microbes · doi:10.3920/bm2010.0008 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Molecular epidemiology of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in Argentina
Corso, A. C., Gagetti, P. S., Rodríguez, M., et al. (2006) · International Journal of Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2006.02.003 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Huh, J. Y., Lee, W. G., Lee, K., et al. (2004) · Journal of Clinical Microbiology · doi:10.1128/jcm.42.5.1897-1902.2004 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Holzknecht, B. J., Hansen, D. S., Nielsen, L., et al. (2017) · New Microbes and New Infections · doi:10.1016/j.nmni.2016.12.020 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Yean, C. Y., Nasir, M. H. B. A., Yahaya, M. A. B., et al. (2007) · International Journal of Food Microbiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2007.11.063 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Johnson, J. K., & Cashara, D. (2013) · Clinical Microbiology Newsletter · doi:10.1016/j.clinmicnews.2013.02.004 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mobile antimicrobial resistance genes in probiotics
Tóth, A. G., Csabai, I., Judge, M. F., Maróti, G., Becsei, Á., Spisák, S., & Solymosi, N. (2021) · doi:10.1101/2021.05.04.442546 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Kerek, Á., Husz, L. H., Szarka, E., Tornyos, G. Á., & Jerzsele, Á. (2026) · Antibiotics · doi:10.3390/antibiotics15060544
“Berreta et al. specifically evaluated commercial veterinary probiotic products containing enterococci for vanA and vanB and emphasized the relevance of monitoring these genes in animal products [19].”
- Authors
- Berreta, A., Baumgardner, R. M., & Kopper, J. J.
- Affiliations
- Washington State University (US)
- Iowa State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kopper, Jamie J.
- Venue
- BMC Research Notes
- Published
- 2020-06-04
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 275-275
- ISSN
- 1756-0500 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7271421
- OpenAlex
- W3033729577
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 0.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Research Notes (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Keywords
- veterinary probiotics, Enterococcus, vancomycin resistance genes, vanA gene, vanB, antimicrobial resistance, livestock, food safety
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Bacterial Proteins, DNA, Bacterial, Enterococcus, Carbon-Oxygen Ligases, Probiotics, Vancomycin Resistance, Livestock, Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
