Molecular characterization and detection of multidrug resistant bacteria from bacteriospermia patients at a hospital in the southeastern part of Nigeria

Male infertility is simply the male’s inability to achieve pregnancy in a fertile female following at least 12 months of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. There are several reasons for male infertility to occur, including both reversible and irreversible conditions. Various microorganisms, mainly bacteria, viruses, and parasites, can infect the male reproductive system and induce a series of inflammatory responses that impair male fertility. This study explores the antibiotic resistance patterns of Acinetobacter radioresistens, Burkholderia diffusa and Acinetobacter junii, focusing on plasmid-mediated resistance and the efficacy of plasmid curing agents. A total of 196 semen samples were collected from patients attending Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka. The specimens were analyzed using the basic semen parameters for semen analysis and culture. Molecular identification, plasmid profiling and plasmid curing were also carried out for identification of isolated bacteria and detection of plasmid resistant genes. From the results, bacteriospermia was seen in 65.32% of the samples. Burkholderia diffusa (39.84%) had the highest frequency of occurrence, followed by Acinetobacter radioresistens (32.81%) and lastly, Acinetobacter junii (27.34%). Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed high resistance patterns, particularly in Acinetobacter radioresistens, which exhibited resistance to seven antibiotics out of ten tested. Most of the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. It was also observed that the Multiple Antibiotics Resistance (MAR) index was greatly reduced in all the isolates, following treatment with 3 different curing agents (sodium dodecyl sulphate, ethidium bromide and acridine orange). Acridine orange was the best curing agent for Acinetobacter radioresistens (MAR reduced from 0.70 to 0.10). Sodium dodecyl sulphate and ethidium bromide were best curing agents for Burkholderia diffusa and Acinetobacter radioresistens respectively. Following the treatments, plasmid was implicated as the cause of the resistance among most of the isolates. The study highlights a high prevalence of bacteriospermia, particularly in sexually active age groups, which may contribute to male infertility. The findings also emphasize the role of plasmids in antibiotic resistance and the potential for plasmid-curing agents to restore antibiotic sensitivity. These results call for enhanced screening for reproductive infections, targeted antibiotic therapy, and further research into alternative antimicrobial strategies.