Study of the correlation between antibiotic resistance genes - susceptibility profiles and biotopes of Enterobacteria in Burkina Faso

Background: The spread and emergence of antibiotic resistance in enterobacteria is a public health concern. This study aimed to evaluate the role of resistance genes in the development of antibiotic resistance and to assess the impact of biotope (living environment) on the prevalence of these genes. Methods: Animal products (eggs, milk, fish), human sources (urine, feces), and the environment (surface soil, lettuce) were imployed using standard microbiology methods in order to evaluate antibiotic susceptibility and to detect resistance genes to beta-lactams (blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M-G1) and quinolones (qnrA, qnrB, qnrS) in strains. Conventional PCRs were used to detect resistance genes. Results: The occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteria (ESBL-E) was determined to be 29.9%, 19.2%, and 12% in samples obtained from animal, environmental and human sources, respectively. Enterobacteria strains tested were found harboring at least one resistance gene consisting of 134(41.2%) blaTEM, 76(23.6%) blaSHV, 85(26.2%) blaCTX-M-G1, 54(16.6%) qnrA, 95(29.2%) qnrB and 104(32%) qnrS. The correlation study indicated that significant (p=0.000) and strong (Cramer’s V=0.506) correlations were found between the presence of the blaTEM gene and resistance to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. Additionally, the expression of the CTX-M-G1 gene was strongly (Cramer’s V ≥ 0.3) linked (p=0.000) with resistance to the antibiotics ceftriaxone, cefepime, ceftazidime, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin. Significant (p=0.000) strong (Cramer’s V ≥ 0.3) associations were seen between the elevated expression of the blaTEM and blaCTX-M-G1 genes and the impact of the biotope. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the bacterial environment can influence the expression of specific resistance genes in enterobacteria.