High incidence of type III secretion system associated virulence factors (exoenzymes) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from Iranian burn patients

• Published in: BMC research notes Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 28
• Main Authors: Khodayary, Ramin, Nikokar, Iraj, Mobayen, Mohammad Reza, Afrasiabi, Farhad, Araghian, Afshin, Elmi, Ali, Moradzadeh, Meisam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 15.01.2019; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Amikacin; Aminoglycosides; Antibacterial agents; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; Biodiversity; Burn patients; Burns; Carbapenems; Ceftazidime; Drug resistance; Fluoroquinolones; Genes; Genetic diversity; Hospitalization; Hospitals; Imipenem; Microbial drug resistance; Mortality; Multidrug resistance; Nosocomial infections; Pathogens; Proteins; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Research Note; Secretion; Type III secretion system; Virulence (Microbiology); Virulence factors; Wounds; Iran; Germany; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Burn patients; Antimicrobial resistance; Type III secretion system; Virulence factors
• ISSN: 1756-0500; 1756-0500
• DOI: 10.1186/s13104-019-4071-0

The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from Iranian burn patients. This cross-sectional study performed on 100 P. aeruginosa isolates which were recovered from burn wound specimens in 2014-2015. All presumptive isolates were identified by standard microbiologic tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was carried out by disk diffusion method. The presence of virulence genes was determined by PCR method. Antibiotic susceptibility results revealed that the isolates were mostly susceptible to amikacin (61%), ceftazidime (60%), and imipenem (55%). Moreover, 59% of the isolates were multi-drug resistance (MDR). The most prevalent MDR pattern was aminoglycosides-penicillins-fluoroquinolones-carbapenems (15%). The presence of exoT, exoY, exoS and exoU genes was detected in 100%, 100%, 59%, and 41% of the tested isolates, respectively. Results points out the pattern of MDR and genetic diversity of type III secretion system among P. aeruginosa strains isolated from the burn population. Overall, the association of MDR and the presence of the specific virulence genes can be a predictive marker for the persistence of these isolates in the hospitals and subsequently a worse clinical condition for the affected patients.