Masoud Alebouyeh, Nour Amirmozafari , Homa Forohesh,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (4-2005)
Abstract
The incidence of virulence factors among 114 Enterococcus faecalis and 35 Enterococcus faecium strains from different clinical specimens were compared with those isolated from control groups. A few of the isolates expressed two or more of the following traits simultaneously: hemolysin, aggregation substance, gelatinase, DNase, hemagglutinin and antibiotic resistance. The frequencies of hemolysin, aggregation substance, and gelatinase production in E. faecalis were much higher than those in E. faecium. However, no statistically significant differences were detected in the other traits. Two of the isolates showed total resistance to all of the antibiotics tested, and others displayed varied degrees of resistance pattern. The frequency of plasmid transfer was shown to be 10-4- 10-7 per donor among the isolated strains. The plasmid profile of the bacteria indicated that most of the isolates contained one or more plasmids with molecular weight ranging in 2 to 42 Mda regions. Resistance to gentamicin and tetracycline was the most observed antibiotic resistance pattern, and had the property of efficient inter-enterococcal spp. transfer by mating
Farahnaz-Sadat Shayganmehr, Masoud Alebouyeh, Masoumeh Azimirad, Mohammad Mehdi Aslani, Mohammad Reza Zali,
Volume 19, Issue 3 (7-2015)
Abstract
Background: Reduced susceptibility of Clostridium difficile to antibiotics is problematic in clinical settings. There is new evidence indicating the cotransfer of toxin-encoding genes and conjugative transposons encoding resistance to antibiotics among different C. difficile strains. To analyze this association, in the current study, we evaluated the frequency of toxigenic C. difficile among the strains with different multidrug-resistant (MDR) profiles in Iran. Methods: Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the isolates were determined against metronidazole, imipenem, ceftazidime, amikacin, and ciprofloxacin by agar dilution method. The association of the resistance profiles and toxigenicity of the strains were studied by PCR targeting tcdA and tcdB genes. Results: Among 86 characterized strains, the highest and lowest resistance rates were related to ciprofloxacin (97%) and metronidazole (5%), respectively. The frequency of resistance to other antibiotics was as follow: imipenem (48%), ceftazidime (76%), and amikacin (76.5%). Among the resistant strains, double drug resistance and MDR phenotypes were detected in the frequencies of 10.4% and 66.2%, respectively. All of the metronidazole-resistant strains belonged to tcdA +/tcdB + genotype with triple or quintuple drug resistance phenotypes. MIC50 and MIC90 for this antibiotic was equally &le 8 &mug/ml. Conclusion: These results proposed the association of tcdA +/tcdB + genotype of C. difficile and the emergence of resistance strains to broad-spectrum antibiotics and metronidazole.
Bita Bakhshi, Amin Naseri, Masoud Alebouyeh,
Volume 20, Issue 2 (4-2016)
Abstract
Background: Campylobacter infections may lead to serious conditions, including septicemia or other invasive forms of the disease, which require rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis and subsequently appropriate antimicrobial therapy. The aim of this study was to compare the species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Campylobacter spp. strains isolated from patients and food samples. Methods: Biochemical identification was performed on 15 clinical and 30 food isolates of Campylobacter recovered onto Brucella agar containing 5% sheep blood. PCR was carried out to confirm the identity of Campylobacter spp. using primers for cadF, hipO, and asp genes of Campylobacter. To determine antibiotic sensitivity of isolates, Kirby-Bauer assay was carried out using 16 different antibiotic discs. Results: PCR assay and biochemical tests confirmed all 45 isolates as Campylobacter: 20 (44.44%) as C. jujeni, 10 (22.22%) as C. coli, and 15 (33.34%) as other Campylobacter strains. The maximum resistance was observed to cefotaxime and imipenem (each 86.49%) and the maximum sensitivity to erythromycin (48.65%). Conclusion: C. jujeni is dominant among isolates from clinical and food samples. In addition, tetracycline remains the first-line therapeutic agent against Campylobacter infections in Iran.