Karam Mohammad Reza Asadi, Habibi Mehri, Bouzari Saeid
Department of Molecular Biology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2018 Oct;9(5):217-224. doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2018.9.5.02.
Uropathogenic (UPEC) are the major cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Here, we determined whether sensitivity to antibiotics was related to the prevalence of iron scavenging genes, or to biofilm and hemolysis formation.
A total of 110 UPEC and 30 isolates were collected from the urine of UTI patients and feces of healthy individuals without UTI, respectively. The presence of iron receptor genes and phenotypic properties were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction and phenotypic methods, respectively. Susceptibility to routine antibiotics was evaluated using the disc diffusion method.
The prevalence of iron scavenging genes ranged from 21.8% () to 84.5% () in the UPEC. Resistance to ceftazidime and cefotaxime was significantly correlated with the presence of and iron genes. Biofilm production was significantly associated with the prevalence of and iron genes. A higher degree of antibiotic resistance was exhibited by isolates that produced biofilms than by their non-biofilm producing counterparts.
Our study clearly indicates that biofilm production is associated with antibiotic resistance, and that iron receptors and hemolysin production also contribute to reduced antibiotic sensitivity. These results further our understanding of the role that these virulence factors play during UPEC pathogenesis, which in turn may be valuable for the development of novel treatment strategies against UTIs.
尿路致病性大肠杆菌（UPEC）是尿路感染（UTIs）的主要病因。在此，我们确定对抗生素的敏感性是否与铁清除基因的流行率、生物膜形成及溶血作用有关。
分别从UTI患者尿液和无UTI健康个体粪便中收集了110株UPEC和30株分离株。分别通过聚合酶链反应和表型方法评估铁受体基因的存在和表型特性。采用纸片扩散法评估对常规抗生素的敏感性。
UPEC中铁清除基因的流行率在21.8%（）至84.5%（）之间。对头孢他啶和头孢噻肟的耐药性与 和 铁基因的存在显著相关。生物膜形成与 和 铁基因的流行率显著相关。产生生物膜的分离株比不产生生物膜的分离株表现出更高程度的抗生素耐药性。
我们的研究清楚地表明，生物膜形成与抗生素耐药性有关，并且铁受体和溶血素的产生也导致抗生素敏感性降低。这些结果进一步加深了我们对这些毒力因子在UPEC发病机制中所起作用的理解，这反过来可能对开发针对UTIs的新治疗策略具有重要价值。
