Antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, and biofilm-associated genes among Stenotrophomonas maltophilia clinical isolates

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern, biofilm production, and the presence of biofilm genes among the S. maltophilia clinical isolates. A total of 85 clinical isolates of S. maltophilia were collected from patients referred to several hospitals. Susceptibility to antibiotics was investigated by disc diffusion method according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). By the crystal violet staining method, the capability of biofilm formation was examined. The genes associated with biofilm production were investigated by the PCR-sequencing techniques. Results: All isolates were resistant to doripenem, imipenem, and meropenem. Minocycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and levofloxacin exhibited the highest susceptibility of 100, 97.65, and 95.29, respectively. The results of crystal violet staining assay showed that all isolates (100) form biofilm. Moreover, 24 (28.23), 32 (37.65), and 29 (34.12) of isolates were categorized as weak, moderate, and strong biofilm producers, respectively. Biofilm genes including rpfF, spgM and rmlA had an overall prevalence of 89.41 (76/85), 100 (85/85) and 84.71 (72/85), respectively. Rational prescribing of antibiotics and implementation of infection control protocols are necessary to prevent further infection and development of antimicrobial resistance. Combination strategies based on the appropriate antibiotics along with anti-biofilm agents can also be selected to eliminate biofilm-associated infections. © 2021, The Author(s)

Decreased carO gene expression and OXA-type carbapenemases among extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains isolated from burn patients in Tehran, Iran

A major challenge in the treatment of infections has been the rise of extensively drug resistance (XDR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) in Acinetobacter baumannii. The goals of this study were to determine the pattern of antimicrobial susceptibility, blaOXA and carO genes among burn-isolated A. baumannii strains. In this study, 100 A. baumannii strains were isolated from burn patients and their susceptibilities to different antibiotics were determined using disc diffusion testing and broth microdilution. Presence of carO gene and OXA-type carbapenemase genes was tested by PCR and sequencing. SDS-PAGE was done to survey CarO porin and the expression level of carO gene was evaluated by Real-Time PCR. A high rate of resistance to meropenem (98), imipenem (98) and doripenem (98) was detected. All tested A. baumannii strains were susceptible to colistin. The results indicated that 84.9 were XDR and 97.9 of strains were MDR. In addition, all strains bore blaOXA-51 like and blaOXA-23 like and carO genes. Nonetheless, blaOXA-58 like and blaOXA-24 like genes were harbored by 0 percent and 76 percent of strains, respectively. The relative expression levels of the carO gene ranged from 0.06 to 35.01 fold lower than that of carbapenem-susceptible A. baumannii ATCC19606 and SDS - PAGE analysis of the outer membrane protein showed that all 100 isolates produced CarO. The results of current study revealed prevalence of blaOXA genes and changes in carO gene expression in carbapenem resistant A.baumannii. © 2021 Akademiai Kiado, Budapes

Insertional inactivation of oprD in carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from burn patients in Tehran, Iran

In this study, we report the insertion sequence ISPpu21 in the oprD porin gene of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from burn patients in Tehran, Iran. Antibiotic susceptibility tests for P. aeruginosa isolates were determined. Production of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) and carbapenemase was evaluated and the β-lactamase-encoding and aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme genes were investigated by PCR and sequencing methods. The mRNA transcription level of oprD and mex efflux pump genes were evaluated by real-time PCR. The outer membrane protein profile was determined by SDS–PAGE. The genetic relationship between the P. aeruginosa isolates was assessed by random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR. In all, 10.52% (10/95) of clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa harboured the ISPpu21 insertion element in the oprD gene. The extended-spectrum β-lactamase-encoding gene in ISPpu21-carrying isolates was blaTEM. PCR assays targeting MBL and carbapenemase-encoding genes were also negative in all ten isolates. The rmtA, aadA, aadB and armA genes were positive in all ISPpu21 harbouring isolates. The relative expression levels of the mexX, mexB, mexT and mexD genes in ten isolates ranged from 0.1- to 1.4-fold, 1.1- to 3.68-fold, 0.3- to 8.22-fold and 1.7- to 35.17-fold, respectively. The relative expression levels of the oprD in ten isolates ranged from 0.57- to 35.01-fold, which was much higher than those in the control strain P. aeruginosa PAO1. Evaluation of the outer membrane protein by SDS–PAGE suggested that oprD was produced at very low levels by all isolates. Using random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR genotyping, eight of the ten isolates containing ISPpu21 were shown to be clonally related. The present study describes a novel molecular mechanism, ISPpu21 insertion of the oprD gene, associated with carbapenem resistance in clinical P. aeruginosa isolates. Keywords: Burn, ISPpu21, OprD porin, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapene