Molecular detection of Oxa-48 β-lactamase in proteus spp. causing UTI

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria is becoming one of the most serious problems encountered by the medical community as a result of antibiotic random use. New traits of drug resistance are continuously emerging in pathogenic bacteria due to the selective pressure which is derived by antibiotic wrong use. Such resistance traits are controlled by genetic development in pathogenic bacteria. Plasmids and transposons are the most relevant DNA elements by which the traits of antibiotic resistance are both expressed in a given bacterial pathogen and transferred to other bacteria. Urinary tract infection is the most common infectious disease caused by different bacterial pathogens including Proteus spp. Which is becoming antibiotic resistant and hard to be treated, therefore, the current study was designed to survey the ability of this pathogen to resist β-lactams antibiotics especially carbapenems. The gene of oxacillinase 48 (OXA-48 bla), which is responsible for carbapenems resistance, has been detected in the plasmid DNA of 6 isolates out of 36 of multi-drug resistance Proteus spp collected over 8 months from July 2018 to March 2019. The antibiotic resistance toward 9 β-lactam antibiotics was also tested. The results showed an elevated level of resistance.