African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research

African Journal of Infectious Diseases Research ISSN 4729-6836 Vol. 5 (11), pp. 001-006, November, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Antimicrobial resistance pattern and prevalence of metallo-β-lactamases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Saudi Arabia

Mohamed H. Al-Agamy^1*,, Atef M. Shibl^1, Samar A. Zaki² and Abdulkader F. Tawfik¹

¹Department of Pharmaceutics and Microbiology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, 11451 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

²Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

Accepted 24 March, 2018

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and to investigate whether MBL genes have spread in MBL-producing isolates. A total of 350 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were screened for production of MBL. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was determined by E-test strips. Six MBL genes and class 1 integron were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Positive MBL genes were subjected to sequencing. Matting out assay was carried out. The resistance rates of 350 P. aeruginosa isolates to piperacillin, piperacillin/tazobactam, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime, aztreonam, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin were 54, 50.3, 48.3, 45.14, 40.3, 30.57, 38.6 and 36.85%, respectively. The results of MBL screening revealed that 20.57% (72/350) of P. aeruginosa produced MBL. Sixty three (46.46%) of 135 imipenem-resistant isolates were not found to produce MBL. MBL-producing isolates were 100% resistant to b-lactams except aztreonam, which showed resistance rate of 63.88%. Only 20.3 and 5.42% of the MBL-producing isolates were resistant to amikacin and polymyxin B, respectively. PCR and deoxyribonuleic acid (DNA) sequencing investigated revealed that all MBL isolates harbour bla_{VIM -2} gene_. High prevalence of imipenem resistant and MBL-producing P. aeruginosa isolates was reported. Imipenem resistance is in increasing and MBL is responsible for 20.57% of the resistance. The bla_VIM-2 is the dominant MBL gene in MBL-producing isolates in Saudi Arabia.

Key words: Carbpenem resistance, Metallo-beta-lactamases, VIM-2, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Saudi Arabia.