Evaluation of biocides resistance pattern and frequency of cepA, qacΔ E, qacE and amvA genes in clinical antibiotic resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Sina Hospital in Tabriz

Abstract

Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the important causes of hospital infections. In recent years, many reports have been given about the presence of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates resistant to disinfectants in medical centers, which are carried out with qacE, amvA, cepA and qacEΔ genes. The present study, while investigating the pattern of sensitivity to antibiotics and disinfectants, determines the frequency of genes encoding resistance to disinfectant compounds in clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 70 isolates of Acinetobacter bomani were collected from Sina Hospital in Tabriz. All isolates were identified using standard laboratory tests and the presence of rpoB gene. The pattern of antibiotic sensitivity of isolates was measured by the Kirby-Bauer standard test. Then the isolates were examined for the presence of qacE, amvA, cepA, and qacEΔ genes using polymerase chain reaction tests. Results: In this study, 100% of the isolates showed a pattern of multi-drug resistance, but among the 70 isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii, no significant resistance to disinfectants was observed. All isolates were effectively inhibited by defined working concentrations specific to each disinfectant. Based on the results of the PCR method, the qacΔE gene was detected in 60% of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. In the analysis of qacE and cepA genes, respectively, 42% of the isolates had the qacE gene and 16% of the isolates had the cepA gene. It is worth noting that amvA gene was not found in any of the studied isolates. By conducting statistical tests, a significant relationship between the presence of qacΔE-qacE genes and the resistance pattern was observed (P=0.001), but no significant relationship was observed between the presence of cepA gene and possible resistance. It was also found that resistance to chlorhexidine, sodium hypochlorite and alcohol has a significant relationship with resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam (p=0.03). This is while resistance to other disinfectants has no significant relationship with resistance to ampicillin-sulbactam.