A survey of prevalence and phenotypic and genotypic assessment of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus bacteria isolated from ready-to-eat food samples collected from Tehran Province, Iran

BACKGROUND: Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria are considered among the major causes of foodborne diseases. This survey aims to assess genotypic and phenotypic profiles of antibiotic resistance in S. aureus bacteria isolated from ready-to-eat food samples. METHODS: According to the previously reported prevalence of S. aureus in ready-to-eat food samples, a total of 415 ready-to-eat food samples were collected from Tehran province, Iran. S. aureus bacteria were identified using culture and biochemical tests. Besides, the phenotypic antibiotic resistance profile was determined by disk diffusion. In addition, the genotypic pattern of antibiotic resistance was determined using the PCR. RESULTS: A total of 64 out of 415 (15.42%) ready-to-eat food samples were contaminated with S. aureus. Grilled mushrooms and salad olivieh harbored the highest contamination rate of (30%), while salami samples harbored the lowest contamination rate of 3.33%. In addition, S. aureus bacteria harbored the highest prevalence of resistance to penicillin (85.93%), tetracycline (85.93%), gentamicin (73.43%), erythromycin (53.12%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (51.56%), and ciprofloxacin (50%). However, all isolates were resistant to at least four antibiotic agents. Accordingly, the prevalence of tetK (70.31%), blaZ (64.06%), aacA-D (57.81%), gyrA (50%), and ermA (39.06%) was higher than that of other detected antibiotic resistance genes. Besides, AacA-D + blaZ (48.43%), tetK + blaZ (46.87%), aacA-D + tetK (39.06%), aacA-D + gyrA (20.31%), and ermA + blaZ (20.31%) were the most frequently identified combined genotypic patterns of antibiotic resistance. CONCLUSION: Ready-to-eat food samples may be sources of resistant S. aureus, which pose a hygienic threat in case of their consumption. However, further investigations are required to identify additional epidemiological features of S. aureus in ready-to-eat foods.