RESEARCH ARTICLE


Distribution of Class 1 and 2 Integrons Among Salmonella Enterica Serovars Isolated from Iranian Patients



Reza Ranjbar1, *, Fatemeh Taghipour2, Davoud Afshar3, Shohreh Farshad4
1 Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Microbiology, Islamic Azad University, Damghan Branch, Damghan, Iran
3 Department of Microbiology and Virology, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran
4 Professor Alborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Nemazi Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, IR Iran


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
2
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 6508
Abstract HTML Views: 2862
PDF Downloads: 1103
ePub Downloads: 880
Total Views/Downloads: 11353
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 3331
Abstract HTML Views: 1369
PDF Downloads: 696
ePub Downloads: 540
Total Views/Downloads: 5936



Creative Commons License
© 2019 Ranjbar et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Molecular Biology Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Tel: +982188039883; Fax: +982188039883; E-mail: ranjbarre@gmail.com


Abstract

Background:

Salmonella enterica has become increasingly resistant to antimicrobial agents, partly as a result of genes carried by integrons.

Objective:

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of class 1 and 2 integrons and resistance to antimicrobial agents in clinical isolates of S. enterica.

Methods:

This study included all Salmonella isolates, recovered from patients with salmonellosis, admitted to Medical Children Hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2015-2016. Bacterial isolates were identified using standard biochemical and agglutination tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The presence of class 1 and 2 integrons was investigated by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay, using specific primers.

Results:

A total of 138 Salmonella strains were isolated and included in this study. Integrons were detected in 45 (32%) isolates. Class 1 and 2 integrons were detected in 24 (17.3%) and 21 (15.2%) isolates, respectively. All integron-positive isolates showed multidrug-resistant phenotypes. Resistance to more than three antimicrobial agents was observed in integron-positive isolates.

Conclusions:

Our findings showed that integrons were widely distributed among S. enterica isolates in Tehran. Class 1 integrons are more prevalent than class 2 integrons in Salmonella isolates, and there is an association with MDR patterns. Therefore, these integrons are more likely to be involved in the distribution of resistant phenotypes in Salmonella strains.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, Integrons, Multidrug-Resistant (MDR), Salmonella enterica, Antimicrobial agents, Phenotypes.