Co-occurrence of carbapenem and aminoglycoside resistance genes among multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from Cracow, Poland

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii is a significant hospital pathogen, possessing a considerable degree of antimicrobial resistance. A. baumannii resistance to carbapenems and aminoglycosides is mostly conferred by class D OXA carbapenemases and aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of selected genes encoding OXA carbapenemases and aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes in multidrug-resistant strains of A. baumannii. MATERIAL/METHODS: The study included 61 carbapenem-resistant and aminoglycoside-nonsusceptible A. baumannii isolates, collected between 2009 and 2011 in Cracow, Poland. Selected resistance genes, including: bla(OXA-51-like), bla(OXA-23-like), bla(OXA-40-like), bla(OXA-58-like), aac(6′)-Ih, aac(3)-Ia, aac(3)-IIa, aac(6′)-Ib, aph(3′)-Ia and aph(3′)-VI, were detected by PCR method. RESULTS: The bla(OXA-51-like) genes were detected in all isolates, while acquired carbapenemase encoding genes were found in 96.7% of tested strains. Presence of bla(OXA-40-like) and bla(OXA-23-like) genes was observed among 65.6% and 27.9% of isolates, respectively. Assayed aminoglycoside resistance genes were found to harbor 98.4% of isolates. Among tested strains, we observed the following percentages of resistance determinants: aac(3)-Ia – 78.7%, aph(3′)-VI – 78.7% and aph(3′)-Ia – 27.9%. Analysis of co-occurrence of carbapenem and aminoglycoside resistance genes revealed the highest percentage of strains possessing bla(OXA-40-like), aac(3)-Ia, and aph(3′)-VI genes (44.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The bla(OXA-40-like) and aac(3)-Ia/aph(3′)-VI were the most prevalent genes encoding acquired OXA carbapenemases and aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, respectively, among A. baumannii strains in Cracow, Poland. Genes conferring resistance to carbapenems and aminoglycosides coexisted in the clinical strains of A. baumannii. The phenomenon of A. baumannii resistance indicates the necessity of monitoring for the presence of the resistance genes.