Association between antibiotic resistance patterns and presence of the exoU gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn wound infections in Guilan, Iran

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a opportunistic pathogen and common cause of nosocomial infections. In the present study we aimed to relationship between antibiotic resistance patterns and the expression of the ExoU exotoxin gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn wounds. In this cross-sectional study P. aeruginosa isolates were recovered from 100 wound samples. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion. The expression levels of the ExoU (exotoxin) gene of the were measured using real-time PCR (RT-PCR) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Of a total of 100 P. aeruginosa isolates included in our study, antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that the tested P. aeruginosa isolates were mostly susceptible to amikacin (61%), ceftazidime (60%), and imipenem (55%). among the 100 isolates, 59% were MDR. there was a significant difference in resistance to the antibiotics ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin in the two groups of ExoU gene expression and non-expression. our data points out the pattern of multi-drug resistance and genetic diversity of type III secretion system among P. aeruginosa isolates from the north of Iran. Moreover, it can be suggested that antibiotic resistance is compatible with isolates harboring certain exoenzyme genes, such as exoU.