Jalileh Ebnabbas

M.Sc. Medical Microbiology

Jalileh Ebnabbas

M.Sc. Medical Microbiology

AdeG efflux pump as the main Tigecycline resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii

AdeG efflux pump as the main Tigecycline resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genrep.2020.100689

aStudent Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
bCellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
cZoonoses Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
dLiver and Digestive Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
eDepartment of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
fDepartment of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Background and aims

Infection and outbreaks caused by tigecycline-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains have reported worldwide. However, the relative contribution of the efflux pump data in the clinical settings is limited. In the present study, we investigated the expression of tigecycline resistance genes.

Method and materials

In this cross-sectional study a total of 46 A. baumannii isolates were collected from clinical samples in three medical centers. Antibiotic susceptibility testing, by broth micro-delusion (BMD), and the relative expression of adeBadeGadeJ, and abeM, by semi-quantitative PCR (semi-qPCR) were quantified. The effect of the efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) was evaluated.

Results

Of 119 Acinetobacter isolates from three university hospital centers, 46 A. baumannii isolates were detected. The results of BMD susceptibility testing showed that >67.4% of isolates had MIC ≤4. The MIC of tigecycline in the presence of EPI decreased in 38.7% of resistant isolates. The results of semi-qPCR showed that the highest expression of efflux genes was related to adeG.

Conclusion

The results of this study showed a high prevalence of tigecycline resistance in A. baumannii, the main cause of which was the increased expression of RND efflux pumps and at the top adeG. This resistance is probably due to point mutations in the regulatory genes of these efflux pumps.