high prevalence of blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 genes in the β-lactam-resistant clinical isolates of pseudomonas aeruginosa

Background: increased resistance to β-lactams is one of the most important considerations about pseudomonas aeruginosa. this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 genes in β-lactam-resistant p. aeruginosa. methods: in this study, 100 clinical isolates were collected, and β-lactam-resistant strains were identified using the disk agar diffusion test. bacterial dna was extracted by the sodium dodecyl sulfate method, and the polymerase chain reaction was used to identify blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 β-lactamase genes. results: in total, 43 isolates were resistant to at least one of the β-lactams tested. piperacillin-tazobactam and aztreonam were the most and least effective antibiotics, respectively. the resistance rate to a panel of β-lactams ranged from 12% to 37%. the highest rate of antibiotic resistance was related to wound and catheter specimens in burn and intensive care units. a significant relationship was observed between β-lactams resistance and the presence of blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 genes. among 43 resistant isolates, 100% and 83.72% carried the blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 genes, respectively. conclusion: high β-lactam resistance rates and prevalence of blaoxa-2 and blaoxa-10 in this study indicate these enzymes’ significant role in resistance to β-lactams, possibly due to overuse of these antibiotics and their easier access.