Investigation of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in quinolone-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates

Antibiotics are drugs often used in the treatment of hospital or community-acquired infections. Resistance that occurs due to the widespread and irrational use of antibiotics causes serious health problems today. Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is one of the most important nosocomial agents due to the rapid development of resistance to many antibiotics in our country and in the world. In this study, the presence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes was investigated in 29 A. baumannii isolates resistant to quinolones, isolated from various clinical isolates and stored in the culture collection of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University Medical Microbiology Laboratory. All isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, gentamicin, amikacin, except for colistin. In the study, quinolone (qnrA, qnrB, qnrC, qnrD, qnrS, qepA, oqxA, oqxB) and aminoglycoside (aac(6′)-Ib) resistance genes that can be transferred via plasmid in A. baumannii isolates were examined by conventional PCR method. In the quinolone and aminoglycoside resistant A. baumannii isolates, qnrB, qnrS, oqxA, oqxB, aac(6′)-Ib genes were detected as 24 (82,8%), 3 (10,3%), 16 (55,2%), 3 (10,3%), 15 (51,7%) , respectively, While none of the other plasmid-mediated (qnrA, qnrC, qnrD and qepA) genes were detected. In the conjugation experiment performed after PCR, an isolate with the qnrB gene was found to have a conjugative plasmid. In conclusion; In this study, it was concluded that the majority of the isolates (97%) were found to have at least one of the resistance genes examined and that qnrB, which is transferred by a conjugative plasmid, could potentially lead to an increase in the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria in nosocomial agents in Kırşehir, therefore, new studies should be conducted with more samples.