Detection of Phenazine Genes in Multi-Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates

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.

Detection of Phenazine Genes in Multi-Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates Keywords:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Multidrug resistant , Phenazine , سودوموناس آئروژینوزا , فنازین , مقاومت آنتی بیوتیکی