European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PREVALENCE OF METALLO-?-LACTAMASE GENES IN SOME GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERIAL ISOLATES

Zahra'a S. Hussain and Hameed M. Jasim*

ABSTRACT

Introduction: the emergence of antibiotic resistance pathogens is an important health risk. Usually Gram negative bacteria acquire resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics by beta-lactamase production. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Metallo-β-lactamase genes (MBLs) in some Gram Negative bacterial isolates. Methods:  Genomic DNA was extracted using boiling method with further precipitation by ethanol.  VIM-1, SIM, and GIM-1 MBLs genes were investigated in clinical G-ve bacterial isolates by PCR based methods using gene specific primers. Results: Genomic DNA extraction resulted in high DNA yields for Escherichia coli (218 ng/ml), Klebsiella pneumoniae (224 ng/ml), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (786 ng/ml). To evaluate the prevalence of MBLs genes (VIM-1, SPM, and GIM-1) in these isolates, genomic DNA was amplified using specific primers, results of amplification showed that these genes were detected in the three isolates after electrophoresis the amplified products on agarose gel with amplicon size of 477 bp for VIM-1, 261 bp for SPM, and 229 bp for GIM-1. It was also found that these isolate carrying at least one of those MBLs genes. Conclusion: This study showed that MBLs genes is prevalent in the studied G-ve bacteria which refer to the horizontal transfer of these genes among these isolates during nosocomial infections

Keywords: Metallo-?-lactamase Genes, Gram Negative Bacteria, ?-lactam Antibiotics.