Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Detection and Evaluation of Multidrug Resistance and the Presence of Virulence Genes Related to the Formation of ompA, epsA, and Bap Biofilms in Clinical Isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii in Tehran, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohammad Niakan 1
Maryam Hataminejad 2
Marzieh Shadpirouz 3
Iman Pouladi 1

1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Sari, Iran

3 Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematical Science, Shahrood University of Technology, Semnan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.34172/jkmu.2763
Abstract
Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is a prevalent pathogenic bacterium that causes nosocomial infections globally. A multitude of A. baumannii strains have acquired a broad spectrum of antibiotic resistance in recent years, primarily due to the influence of genes associated with the production of biofilms.
Methods: Two hundred clinical isolates were acquired and described from Shahid Mostafa Khomeini, Tohid, and Shahid Motahari hospitals in Tehran, Iran, in 2018. The disk diffusion method was then used to determine whether genes related to the formation of outer membrane protein A (ompA), exopolysaccharide (epsA), and biofilm-associated protein (Bap) by polymerase chain reaction were present or not, as per the 2020 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines.
Results: We found 60 different types of A. baumannii, all confirmed by blaOXA-51-like gene area sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 16S rRNA. It was found that A. baumannii isolates were completely unaffected by piperacillin, meropenem, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, and ciprofloxacin. We also found that 96.6% of the A. baumannii isolates had genes related to making ompA biofilms, 85% had genes related to making epsA biofilms, and 75% had genes related to making Bap biofilms.
Conclusion: After examining the elevated level of antibiotic resistance among A. baumannii isolates and the existence of biofilmassociated genes in clinical isolate, this study showed that virulence genes linked to the formation of epsA, Bap, and ompA biofilms are a major cause of antibiotic resistance.

Highlights

Iman Pouladi (Google Scholar) (PubMed)

Keywords

Acinetobacter baumannii
Biofilms
Bap gene
epsA gene
multidrug resistance
ompA gene
Virulence Genes
Subjects
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Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume 32
Pages 1-7

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