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. 2013;3(1):197-201.
doi: 10.5681/apb.2013.032. Epub 2013 Feb 7.

Virulence and antimicrobial resistance in enterococci isolated from urinary tract infections

Yaeghob Sharifi  1 , Alka Hasani, Reza Ghotaslou, Behrouz Naghili, Mohammad Aghazadeh, Mortaza Milani, Ahad Bazmany
Affiliations

Virulence and antimicrobial resistance in enterococci isolated from urinary tract infections

Yaeghob Sharifi et al. Adv Pharm Bull. 2013.

Abstract

Purpose: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common nosocomial infection among hospitalized patients. Meanwhile, most frequent infections involving enterococci affect the urinary tract. The aims of this study were to investigate the susceptibility pattern of isolated enterococci from UTI and the prevalence of virulence genes.

Methods: The study used enterococci isolated from urinary tract infections obtained from 3 university teaching hospitals in Northwest Iran. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the strains was determined using the disc diffusion method. Multiplex PCR was performed for the detection of genus- species specific targets, and potential virulence genes.

Results: Of 188 enterococcal isolates, 138 (73.4%) and 50 (26.6%) were Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium, respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed high resistance to amikacin (86.2%), rifampicin (86.2%) and erythromycin (73.9%), irrespective of species. In total, 68.1% were positive for gelE, and 57.4%, 53.2%, 56.4%, and 52.1% of isolates were positive for cpd, asa1, ace, and esp, respectively.

Conclusion: The study revealed that most of UTI isolates were multidrug resistance against the antibiotics tested and antibiotic resistance was more common among E. faecium isolates than E. faecalis. A significant correlation was found between UTI and the presence of gelE among E. faecalis strains (p < 0.001).

Keywords: Enterococcus faecalis; Enterococcus faecium; Urinary tract infection; virulence genes.

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Figures

Figure 1.Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified asa1, esp and gelE by multiplex PCR.
Figure 1.Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified asa1, esp and gelE by multiplex PCR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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