Prevalence and Distribution of Resistance and Enterotoxins/Enterotoxin-likes Genes in Different Clinical Isolates of Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus
Abstract Background CoNS serve as a major reservoir for genes facilitating the evolution of S. aureus as a successful pathogen. The present study aimed to determine the occurrence of genes conferring resistance to fluoroquinolone, determining of the prevalence of insertion sequence elements IS256 and IS257 and different superantigenes (SAgs) among CoNS isolates obtained from various clinical sources. Materials and Methods The current study conducted on a total of 91 CoNS species isolated from clinical specimens in Hamadan hospitals in western Iran in 2017-19. The Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using disk diffusion method and the presence of the IS256 and IS257, genes conferring resistance to fluoroquinolone and enterotoxins/enterotoxin-likes encoding genes were investigated by PCR method. Results Among genes encoding classic enterotoxins, sec was the most frequent which was carried by 48.4% of isolates, followed by seb in 27.5%. None of the CoNS isolates were found to be positive to enterotoxin-like encoding genes. Among the 11 CoNS isolates that have shown phenotypically resistant to levofloxacin, 9 isolates (81.8%) with gyrB , 8 isolates (72.7%) with gyrA, 8 isolates (72.7%) with grlB and 7 isolates (63.6%) with grlA were identified. The IS256 and IS257 were identified in 31.8% and 74.7% of CoNS isolates. The results of statistical analysis showed a significant association between the occurrence of SEs encoding genes and antimicrobial resistance. Conclusion Antimicrobial resistant determinants and staphylococcus enterotoxins (SEs) are co-present in clinical CoNS isolates that confer selective advantage for colonization and survival in hospital settings. The coexistence of insertion elements and antibiotic resistance indicate their role in pathogenesis and infectious disease.