Prevalence of MBL-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen causes clinical infections among burn patients. Metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) are important mechanisms of Carbapenem (drug of choice) resistance among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. The aims of this study were to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern and to detect the prevalence of MBLs among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates using two phenotypic and genotypic methods. Initially, the antibiotic resistance patterns of 170 clinical strains isolated from burn patients in Motahari Hospital in Tehran, Iran were determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. All of the clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates resistant to Imipenem were screened for production of MBL by E test with Imipenem / Imipenem plus EDTA (E test MBL). PCR assay was performed for detection of blaVIM genes. Based on the study results, the percentage of resistance was as below: Imipenem (10 μg) 52.9%, Amikacin (30 μg) 81.7%, Carbenicilin (100 μg) 74.7%, Polymixine B (300 unit) 10%, Ticarcilin (75 μg) 84.7%, Tobramycin (10 μg) 88.2%, Colisitin (10 μg) 34.1, Colisitin (25 μg) 28.3%. Of 90 Carbapenem resistant isolates, 10(11/1%) isolates were positive by E test, all were sensitive to Colisitin and Polymixine B. All of the Imipenem resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were examined by PCR for the presence of the blaVIM genes. All MBL-producing isolates carried blaVIM-1 genes. Considering the high prevalence and clinical importance of MBL-producing isolates, rapid identification of them and use of the appropriate infection control measures are necessary to prevent further spread of infections by these organisms.