Molecular diagnosis and examination of Proteus mirabilis isolated from urine and wound samples in Dhi-Qar province hospitals

The aim of this work is to discovery of certain virulence genes and phenotypic traits in human P. mirabilis isolates, isolation and diagnosis of P. mirabilis by biochemical tests and Vitek-2 system. And also it aims to study the effect of some antibiotics on P. mirabilis isolates. The research was conducted in Nasiriyah City/Dhi-Qar Governorate, Iraq, in the period between April 2021 and January 2022, and 70 urine and 30 wound samples were obtained from patients admitted to Al-Haboubi Hospital and Al-Hussein Training Hospital (33 males and 67 females, aged 10-65 years). Isolates diagnosis was made based on morphological and cultural characteristics of blood agar, MacConkey agar, nutrient agar as well as conventional biochemical tests and Vitek-2 identification system. Depending on these criteria, only 20 (13.3%) isolates were obtained from P. mirabilis. Numerous virulence factors, such as the synthesis of siderophores, colonization factor antigen (CFA), haemolysin, extracellular protease, swarming activity, and urease, were identified. The results showed that all isolates (100%) possessed UreC gene, ZapA gene, flaA gene and mrp gene. Therefore, these results show that all of the isolates (100%) have the ability to produce urea, proteases, hemolysin and hemagglutinin, in addition to oligomerization activity. Tested the sensitivity of isolates P. mirabilis about 15 types of antibiotics by disk diffusion method, and belonging to ten classes of antibiotics. All isolates were resistant to rifampin (90%), amoxicillin (85%), ampicillin (80%), chloramphenicol (80%), tetracycline (80%) and nalidic acid (75%), while all isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin (95%), meropenem (90%), amikacin (80%) and gentamicin (65%).