Houra Pourghafar - Department of Microbiology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
Mohadeseh Mohsenpour - Department of Microbiology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Zohreh Gholizadeh - Department of Microbiology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Nour Amirmozafari - Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Science and Health Services, Tehran, Iran

Background and Aim : Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram- positive coccus which has anappearance similar to a bunch of grapes under microscope. It produces relatively big yellowcolonies on culture medium. and is often isolated from the nose, mouth and digestive tract. It isalso responsible for developing the most hospitals’ acquired infections and intravascular infection.Panton-Valentine Leukocidin producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus were accompanied withthe infections. This study was to investigate the prevalence of pvl gene isolated from the patientshospitalized in Rasht, from the northern of Iran.Methods : During a nine-month period, ۱۹۰ clinical isolates of Staphylococcus were obtained. S.aureus strains were isolated from wounds, blood, urine, splinter, and body fluids from hospitals ofRasht, Iran. The specimens were initially inoculated in Mannitol Salt Agar and incubated at ۳۷۰Cfor ۱۸ - ۲۴ hours. Colonies were examined for catalase production, coagulase, hemolysin, DNase,and Mannitol fermentation. Resistance to Methicillin was determined by either Oxacillin disk andchromosomal DNA PCR.Results : The positive isolates were further analyzed for the presence of The pvl gene using aspecific PCR primer sets and a totally of ۴۲isolates (۲۲.۱۰%) were positive for pvl gene.Conclusion : In recent years, various studies showed an increase varieties of Methicillin resistanceand PVL positive Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, considering its importance, the current studywas to investigate the prevalence of pvl gene in strains isolated from hospitalized patients in Rasht,Iran.

MRSA, Panton Valentine Leucocidin (PVL), Methicillin, Oxacillin