Prevalence of yhiU, yhiV, mdfA, and marA efflux pump genes and their association with antibacterial susceptibility in clinical samples of Escherichia coli in Bangladesh.

AIMS: Multiple efflux pumps are one of the key resistant mechanisms that expel antibiotics from Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of Bangladeshi clinical isolates of E. coli, to detect fluoroquinolone resistance-associated efflux pump genes, and to explore their relationship.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Forty clinical isolates of E. coli were collected from a tertiary hospital in Bangladesh. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the disc diffusion method, and efflux pump genes were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.

RESULTS

Amoxicillin (97.5%), tetracycline (87.5%), and ciprofloxacin (80%) were found to be the least effective antibiotics. Overall, 39 isolates (97.5%) were identified as multidrug resistant. The prevalence of efflux pump genes was as follows: yhiU (100%), marA (95%), mdfA (87.5%), and yhiV (75%). Among MDR isolates, all four genes were observed in 64.1% of cases, three genes in 28.2%, and two genes in 7.7%. Of the 32 ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates, the combination of all four efflux genes (mdfA + marA + yhiU + yhiV) was detected in 59.38% of strains.

CONCLUSION

Multiple efflux pumps present in E. coli may have played a pivotal role in developing resistance against several antibiotics.