DETERMINING THE OCCURRENCE OF SOME VIRULENCE GENES IN PROTEUS SPECIES ISOLATES

Abstract

Forty isolates of Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria termed as Proteus, widely known for their swarming motility and urease activity, which cause complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), were isolated and identified. Two hundred and ten urine specimens collected from the patients suffering from UTIs, who were hospitalized in Babylon hospitals, were used for the isolation of Proteus species isolates. The morphological features (for cells and colonies), biochemical tests, VITEK 2 compact and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Proteus-specific genes were used for the identification of these isolates. The assessment of the antimicrobial profiles that represent the prevalence and the level of pathogenicity of the isolates was also carried out. Furthermore, the whole genomic DNA of the isolates was extracted to determine the sites of blaTEM, blaCTX-M, and blaSHV genes on the genome of the isolates. The results revealed that thirty isolates were P. mirabilis and ten isolates were P. vulgaris. These isolates were given names as PM1 to PM30 for P. mirabilis and PV31 to PV40 for P. vulgaris. The most effective antibiotics against the isolates were erythromycin (97.5%), followed by tobramycin (85%), ampicillin (82.5%), chloramphenicol (60%), piperacillin (55%) and 52.5% for each sulfamethoxazole and azithromycin. The meropenem and imipenem showed less resistance (35%) followed by ciprofloxacin (30%) and gentamicin (15%). The PCR assay exhibited that these isolates carried blaTEM gene at the rate of 38/40 (95%), blaSHV gene at the rate of 33/40 (82.5%) and blaCTX-M gene at the rate of 37/40 (92.5%). Therefore, reducing the frequency and severity of infections, however, more research is needed to understand how the rates of pathogenicity of Proteus species isolates can be controlled.