Detection of Class I Integrons in Staphylococcus aurous Isolated From Clinical Samples

Abstract

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen, causing variety of diseases and death in Iran and in the world. Despite the use of a spectrum of new antibiotics, this organism has caused severe infections in burns as well as in different parts of the body, due to acquired drug resistance. Widespread inappropriate use of antibiotics in treating bacterial infections has led to the selection and circulation of resistant strains and the growing risk of transferring resistant genes to sensitive bacteria. One of the causes of antibiotic resistance in S. aureus strains is the gain of resistance genes including integrase and qac/sul1. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of class 1 integron in S. aureus strains isolated from clinical samples for the first time in Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 200 strains of S. aureus isolated from patients admitted to Baqiyatallah Hospital in Tehran in 2013. These strains were confirmed using biochemical and serological tests and the presence of class 1 integron was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Among the 200 samples, 1% of the strains (two isolates) contained the class 1 integron gene. The results of this study showed that the highest frequency of the obtained samples belonged to males and the isolates occurred mostly in individuals aged 51-60 years old. The highest number of strains was found in wound samples. The strains were most frequently isolated from the emergency ward and the intensive care unit (ICU). Conclusions: Findings of this study showed that integron can have a limited frequency in S. aureus isolated from clinical sample in Tehran.