determination antimicrobial resistance profile and prevalence of class 1 and 2 integron resistance gene cassettes in pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from hospitalized patients in markazi province, iran

Background: pseudomonas aeruginosa is recognized as a serious opportunistic pathogen that causes infections in hospitalized patients and shows a high level of antibiotic resistance. objectives: the current study aimed at investigating the frequency of class 1, 2 integrons in p. aeruginosa strains isolated from hospitalized patients in markazi province, iran. methods: totally, 100 clinical isolates of p. aeruginosa were collected and identified using standard biochemical tests p. aeruginosa. antibiotic sensitivity test was performed using disk-diffusion (bauer-kirby) method. dna was extracted, then polymerase chain reaction (pcr) was performed for the detection of class 1 and 2 integrons. results: trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (76%) and cefotaxime (45%) were the most effective antimicrobial agents in this study. also, pcr results showed that 95% of p. aeruginosa strains carried int1, but none of the isolates harbored the int2 genes. a significant correlation was observed between class 1 integrons and resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and cefotaxime (p < 0.005). conclusions: the current study recognized a high prevalence of antibiotic resistance also a high presence of class 1 integron. since integron-carrying elements are responsible for the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes introduced into the hospital is of concern; thus applying comprehensive strategies for prevention and control of infections is necessary.