Sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of colistin on Acinetobacter baumannii biofilm formation potency, adherence, and invasion to epithelial host cells: an experimental study in an Iranian children's referral hospital

Here, we described the efficacy of colistin sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) on biofilm-forming activity, host epithelial cell adherence, and invasion capacity of Acinetobacter baumannii strains collected from children admitted to the Children's Medical Center Hospital. Biofilm formation potency of A. baumannii clinical isolates was measured using a 96-well microtiter plate assay. Distribution of biofilm-related genes, including bap, abaI, ompA, csuE, and blaPER-1, was detected by PCR. The mRNA expression level of ompA and csuE was measured by qPCR in the presence of ¼ and ½ MICs of colistin. A. baumannii adhesion and invasion to eukaryotic host cells were phenotypically assayed at sub-MICs of colistin. Eighty percent (56/70) and 35.7% (25/70) of A. baumannii isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) phenotypes, respectively. The strong, moderate, and weak biofilm producers of A. baumannii were 37.1% (26/70), 32.8%, (23/70), and 22.8% (16/70), respectively. The frequencies of biofilm-associated genes were 100% for abaI, ompA, and csuE, followed by 22.8% (16/70) and 24.3% (17/70) for bap and blaPER-1, respectively. The downregulation of csuE and ompA expression levels was observed in the sub-MIC of colistin. In vitro cell culture study showed a decreased capability of A. baumannii to adhere to the human epithelial cells at sub-inhibitory doses of colistin; however, none of the isolates could invade HEp-2 cells. Our study showed that the genes encoding biofilm-associated proteins undergo downregulation in expression levels after exposure to sub-MICs of colistin in A. baumannii. Longitudinal in vivo studies are needed to fully understand the clinical aspects of pathogenicity mechanisms and evolutionary dynamics of drug resistance.IMPORTANCESince the toxicity of colistin is dose dependent, there is a focus on strategies that reduce the dose while maintaining the therapeutic effect of the drug. Our findings about sub-inhibitory doses of colistin provide a novel insight into the logical use of colistin to treat and control Acinetobacter baumannii-related infections in clinical practice.

Acinetobacter baumannii: Pathogenesis, virulence factors, novel therapeutic options and mechanisms of resistance to antimicrobial agents with emphasis on tigecycline

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE

Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most important nosocomial pathogens with the ability to cause infections such as meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract, septicaemia and wound infections. A wide range of virulence factors are responsible for pathogenesis and high mortality of A. baumannii including outer membrane proteins, lipopolysaccharide, capsule, phospholipase, nutrient- acquisition systems, efflux pumps, protein secretion systems, quarom sensing and biofilm production. These virulence factors contribute in pathogen survival in stressful conditions and antimicrobial resistance.

COMMENT

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), A. baumannii is one of the most resistant pathogens of ESKAPE group (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, A. baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp.). In recent years, resistance to a wide range of antibiotics in A. baumannii has significantly increased and the high emergence of extensively drug resistant (XDR) isolates is challenging. Among therapeutic antibiotics, resistance to tigecycline as a last resort antibiotic has become a global concern. Several mechanisms are involved in tigecycline resistance, the most important of which is RND (Resistance-Nodulation-Division) family efflux pumps overexpression. The development of new therapeutic strategies to confront A. baumannii infections has been very promising in recent years.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION

In the present review we highlight microbiological and virulence traits in A. baumannii and peruse the tigecycline resistance mechanisms and novel therapeutic options. Among the novel therapeutic strategies we focus on combination therapy, drug repurposing, novel antibiotics, bacteriophage therapy, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), human monoclonal antibodies (Hu-mAbs), nanoparticles and gene editing.

Characterization of Sequence Types and Mechanisms of Resistance to Tigecycline Among Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Children

The present study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of resistance to tigecycline and to determine sequence types of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates recovered from children, using the Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST). A total of 74 A. baumannii isolates were recovered from patients at one of the children's hospital in Tehran, Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was performed for different classes of antibiotics and minimum inhibitory concentrations of colistin and tigecycline were determined using broth microdilution method and E-test strips, respectively. The presence of ISAba1, AbaR, tet(39), and tetX and the expressions of adeB, adeG, and adeJ efflux pump genes were measured using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR), respectively. The diversity of mutations across the regulatory genes of RND efflux pumps (adeRS, adeL, and adeN) and trm gene were determined using their PCR amplification and DNA sequencing in tigecycline-resistant isolates. In addition, STs of tigecycline-resistant isolates were determined using MLST method. Three A. baumannii isolates were resistant to tigecycline. Several amino acid substitutions were identified in AdeRS, AdeN, and Trm but no alteration was found in AdeL. Nevertheless, adeB, adeG, and adeJ overexpression were observed in 1, 2, and 1 isolates, respectively. The tigecycline-resistant isolates belonged to ST1720 and ST2285. This is the first study reporting on ST2285 in A. baumannii populations. Among 74 isolates, two tigecycline susceptible isolates carried tet(39) gene but no tetX gene was detected. We concluded that mutations in regulatory genes of RND efflux pumps and the trm gene may play some important role in A. baumannii resistance to tigecycline.

Anti-virulence therapeutic strategies against bacterial infections: recent advances

The emergence and increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has become a major global healthcare problem. According to the World Health Organization if these trends continue, mortality from infection in 2050 will be higher than that from cancer. Microorganisms have various resistance mechanisms against different classes of antibiotics that emphasize the need for discovery of new antimicrobial compounds to treat bacterial infections. An interesting and new strategy for disarming pathogens is antivirulence therapy by blocking bacterial virulence factors or pathogenicity. Therefore, the use of these new pathoblockers could reduce the administration of broad-spectrum antimicrobials and prevalence of resistant strains. This review provides an overview of the antivirulence strategies published studies between years 2017 and 2021. Most antivirulence strategies focused on adhesins, toxins and bacterial communication. Additionally, targeting two-component systems and ncRNA elements were also examined in some studies. These new strategies have the potential to replace traditional antimicrobial agents and can be used to treat infections, especially infections caused by resistant pathogens, by targeting virulence factors.

Prevalence of β-lactamase-encoding genes and molecular typing of Acinetobacter baumannii isolates carrying carbapenemase OXA-24 in children

Background

β-Lactam antibiotics have been broadly used for the treatment of Acinetobacter baumannii infections, resulting in development of β-lactam inactivating β-lactamases. Here, we described antibiotic resistance rate, prevalence of β-lactamase-encoding genes, and clonal relationships of A. baumannii strains isolated from children referred to Children’s Medical Center in Tehran, Iran, during 2019–2020.

Methods

A total of 60 non-replicate A. baumannii isolates were recovered from clinical specimens of pediatric patients. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done by the disc diffusion method. Colistin susceptibility of isolates was performed by the broth microdilution method. β-lactamase-encoding genes were characterized by PCR. The presence of ISAba1 element upstream of the several oxacillinase genes was also checked. Genetic relatedness of isolates was determined by using random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing.

Results

The antimicrobial susceptibility tests showed that 83.3% of A. baumannii isolates were MDR, and 40% XDR. Both MDR and XDR A. baumannii isolates were susceptible to colistin. The frequency of bla_OXA-51-like, bla_OXA-23-like, bla_TEM, bla_OXA-24-like, bla_PER, bla_SHV, bla_CTX-M, bla_OXA-58-like, and bla_IMP was 100, 93.33, 60, 36.67, 28.33, 8.33, 5, 3.33, and 1.67%, respectively. Coexistence of ISAba1/bla_OXA-23-like and ISAba1/bla_OXA-51-like was observed in 65% and 85% of isolates, respectively. RAPD analysis revealed 4 common types and 2 single types of A. baumannii isolates.

Conclusions

The multiple clones harboring bla_OXA-23-like, ISAba1-bla_OXA-51-like, and ISAba1-bla_OXA-23-like were responsible for the spread of A. baumannii isolates in our clinical wards. Dissemination of the well-established clones is worrisome and would become therapeutic challenges due to the possible transferring genetic elements associated with resistance.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12941-021-00480-5.

High prevalence of multidrug-resistance uropathogenic Escherichia coli strains, Isfahan, Iran

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most frequent infectious diseases and can occur in all age groups. Escherichia coli is the main cause of this infection. Multiple resistances to antimicrobial agents are increasing quickly in E. coli isolates and may complicate therapeutic strategies for UTI. The aim of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance pattern and the multidrug-resistance (MDR) phenotypes in uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 135 UPEC isolates were collected from both outpatients (91 isolates) and inpatients (44 isolates) between September, 2012 and February, 2013. In order to determine the MDR among UPEC isolates, we have tested 15 antimicrobial agents and antibiotic susceptibility was done by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method.

RESULTS

The percentage of MDR isolates (resistant to at least three drug classes such as aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, penicillins, cephalosporins, or carbapenems) was 68% in the inpatients and 61% in the outpatients. Antibiotic resistance to ampicillin, ceftazidim, nalidixic acid, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole were higher than 50%. Amikacin, nitrofurantoin, and gentamicin showed markedly greater activity (89.1%, 85.9%, and 82.4% sensitivity, respectively) than other antimicrobial agents. Resistance to meropenem did show either in outpatients or in inpatients.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS

The high prevalence of drug resistance among UTI patients calls for continuous monitoring of the incidence of drug resistance for appropriate empiric selection of antibiotic therapy. Empirical treatment of UTIs should be relied on susceptibility patterns from local studies.