Dos Santos L D R, Furlan J P R, Gallo I F L, Ramos M S, Savazzi E A, Stehling E G
Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Companhia Ambiental do Estado de São Paulo (CETESB), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Lett Appl Microbiol. 2021 Aug;73(2):237-246. doi: 10.1111/lam.13508. Epub 2021 May 24.
Enterococcus species are present in the microbiota of humans and animals and have also been described in the environment. Among the species, Enterococcus faecium is one of the main pathogens associated with nosocomial infections worldwide. Enterococcus faecium isolates resistant to different classes of antimicrobials have been increasingly reported, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates in environmental sources, which is worrying. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize E. faecium isolates obtained from soil and water samples regarding antimicrobial resistance and virulence determinants. A total 40 E. faecium isolates were recovered from 171 environmental samples. All isolates were classified as MDR, highlighting the resistance to the fluoroquinolones class, linezolid and vancomycin. Furthermore, high-level aminoglycoside resistance and high-level ciprofloxacin resistance were detected in some isolates. Several clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance genes were found, including vanC1, ermB, ermC, mefAE, tetM, tetL, ant(6')-Ia, ant(4')-Ia, aph(3')-IIIa and aac(6')-Ie-aph(2″)-Ia. Three virulence genes were detected among the MDR E. faecium isolates, such as esp, gelE and ace. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of MDR E. faecium isolates carrying antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in environmental sources and report for the first time in the world the presence of vanC1-producing E. faecium isolated from soil.
肠球菌存在于人类和动物的微生物群中，在环境中也有发现。在这些菌种中，屎肠球菌是全球医院感染的主要病原体之一。对不同类别抗菌药物耐药的屎肠球菌分离株的报道越来越多，包括环境来源中的多重耐药（MDR）分离株，这令人担忧。因此，本研究旨在对从土壤和水样中获得的屎肠球菌分离株的抗菌药物耐药性和毒力决定因素进行表征。从171份环境样本中共分离出40株屎肠球菌。所有分离株均被归类为多重耐药，对氟喹诺酮类、利奈唑胺和万古霉素的耐药性尤为突出。此外，在一些分离株中检测到高水平氨基糖苷类耐药和高水平环丙沙星耐药。发现了几个临床相关的抗菌药物耐药基因，包括vanC1、ermB、ermC、mefAE、tetM、tetL、ant(6')-Ia、ant(4')-Ia、aph(3')-IIIa和aac(6')-Ie-aph(2″)-Ia。在多重耐药屎肠球菌分离株中检测到三个毒力基因，如esp、gelE和ace。本研究结果有助于更好地了解环境来源中携带抗菌药物耐药和毒力基因的多重耐药屎肠球菌分离株，并首次在世界范围内报道从土壤中分离出产vanC1的屎肠球菌。
