RESUMEN
Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the distribution of methicillin resistance as well as some virulence factors in S.aureus strains isolated from diabetic and non-diabetic patients by Phenotypic and genotypic methods
Methods: A total of fifty eight isolates were identified as S.aureus [41 isolates from diabetics and 17 isolates from non-diabetics] from infected wounds and abscesses in type I diabetic and non-diabetic patients admitted to 4 different hospitals located at Mansoura and Damietta, Egypt. Resistance to eight antimicrobial agents was detected using disk diffusion method. The isolates were screened for some virulence factors, namely hemolysins, lipases, lecithinase, haemagglutination, slime production and carotenoid pigment. Also, some virulence genes, namely hla, hlb, icaA, icaD, geh and methicillin resistance gene, mecA were also detected
Results: S.aureus was prevalent in 46% of collected specimens. The antibiotic sensitivity test showed that vancomycin was the most active antibiotics against tested strains. Total hemolytic activity was shown by 91% of tested strains. Lipase enzyme was produced by 65.5% of strains while 56.9% of tested strains produce lecithinase enzyme. Haemagglutination was observed in 82.8% of tested strains although 77.6% of strains were positive slime producers. About 93% of tested strains were pigmented. The hla gene was amplified in 33 strains while hlb and geh genes were distributed in almost all tested strains. Both icaA and icaD genes were detected and amplified in 96.5% of tested strains. On the other hand, methicillin resistance was detected in 86% of S.aureus strains