Screening of biofilm-producing genes from Acinetobacter isolates obtained Covid-۱۹ patients in ICU hospital section

The corona pandemic caused a large number of people to be admitted to the intensive care units of hospitals. Due to the special closed system of these parts and the lack of proper air circulation, Spire equipment is a suitable place for the accumulation of commensal bacteria and the creation of biofilm. Biofilm is actually a collection of microbes that stabilize on a surface. Bacteria in biofilm structures have relationships with each other and their behavior is different from when they are alone. The resistance of bacteria to antimicrobial agents in the biofilm state is different from the planktonic state. Many genes are involved in the formation of biofilm, these genes act in a cascade manner and the activity of one gene depends on the activity of another gene Acinetobacter, recognized as a nosocomial pathogen, undergoes structural changes when exposed to various antibiotics, rendering it relatively resistant and posing challenges in disease treatment. This study aimed to identify two biofilm-related genes and assess the drug resistance profile of clinical strains. Clinical isolates were collected from the ICU of Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman, Iran, and phenotypically identified. Confirmation was achieved for ۵۵ clinical Acinetobacter isolates. Antibiogram testing was conducted for meropenem, amikacin, ampicillin-sulbactam, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, rifampin, and tigecycline antibiotics. Biofilm formation ability was assessed using microtiter plates and crystal violet staining, followed by spectrophotometry at OD ۴۹۰ nm. PCR was employed to determine the frequency of pslA and pelB genes. Analysis revealed that the highest age group affected was ۱ to ۱۵ years (۱۹%), while the lowest was ۲۶ to ۳۵ years (۵%). The frequencies of pslA and pelB genes were ۳۴.۵% and ۶۵.۵%, respectively, and drug resistance ranged from ۷۲% to ۱۰۰% for the mentioned antibiotics. Given the pelB gene's approximately twofold higher frequency compared to pslA, it suggests that in most studied isolates, Psl may often be disrupted or that intracellular c-di-GMP levels have significantly increased.

کلیدواژه ها:

Biofilms ، Acinetobacter ، Drug resistance ، Antibiotic ، pslA and pelB genes