ABSTRACT
Objective: Pseudomonas aeruginosa [P. aeruginosa] is an opportunistic pathogen with numerous virulence factors considered to be one of the most etiological agents in nosocomial infections. The emergence of multi-drug resistant [MDR] P. aeruginosa has become a serious, worldwide public health threat. This study intended to determine the frequency of phzM, phzS, phzH, phzI, and phzII genes in MDR P. aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical samples
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we examined 93 isolates of P. aeruginosa collected from different clinical samples in Zanjan during 1393-94. After identification of isolates by biochemical tests, we performed the antibiotic susceptibility test [Kirby-Bauer] per CLSI guidelines. Then, total DNA was extracted for PCR analysis to detect phzM, phzS, phzH, phzI, and phzII genes
Results: P. aeruginosa isolates exhibited high-level resistance to Erythromycin and Cefoxitin [95.6%]. Amikacin showed the highest activity against isolates with 73.2% susceptibility. There were 88 [94.6%] MDR isolates. The genes had the following frequency among MDR isolates: phzI [96.5%], phzII [93.1%], phzM [45.4%], phzS [27.2%], and phzH [27.2%]
Conclusion: The pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa is clearly multifactorial as shown by the large numbers of virulence factors and the broad spectrum of diseases this bacterium causes. The results indicated a greater frequency of phzI and phzII genes in MDR P. aeruginosa strains. This finding could be an alarm for the infections caused by this microorganism