Quinolone resistance and biofilm formation capability of uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from an Iranian inpatients' population.

BACKGROUND

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a major pathogen of the urinary tract infection (UTI), and biofilm formation is crucial as it facilitates the colonization in the urinary tract. We aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility pattern, biofilm formation capability, distribution of quinolone resistance genes, and phylogenetic groups among UPEC isolates from an Iranian inpatients' community.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A collection of 126 UPEC obtained from hospitalized patients with symptomatic UTI at 3 teaching hospitals during 2016 were included. Antibiogram of all isolates against quinolone and fluoroquinolones was performed using the disk diffusion method. Phylogenetic groups and qnr A, B, and S genes were assessed by PCR. Susceptibility pattern showed that more than 50% and 81% of the isolates were resistant to fluoroquinolones and quinolones, correspondingly. The frequency of qnrS and qnrB genes was 22% and 13.5%, correspondingly. Our result indicated no significant association between the presence of fluoroquinolone genes and antibiotic resistance to them. The frequent common phylogroup was B2 (84.1%), followed by D (10.3%), A (3.2%) and B1 (2.4%) groups. Indeed, 80.2% of the isolates were biofilm producers, so that 42.1%, 16.7% and 21.4% of them were classified as weak, moderate and strong producers, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results showed considerable fluoroquinolone and quinolone resistance among UPEC along with a remarkable rate of biofilm-producing isolates from symptomatic hospitalized patients, making them a serious health concern in the region. This survey highlights the need for awareness on quinolone resistance and careful prescription of them by physicians.