Molecular Detection of Virulence Genes among Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains Isolated from Clinical Specimens by Multiplex PCR

Pseudomonas aeroginosa is the most common pathogen associated with nosocomial infections and possesses virulence factors which contribute to the bacterial invasion and toxicity such as alginate, exoenzyme S, exotoxin A and elastase. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of algD, exoS, toxA and lasB genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa samples isolated from patients by Multiplex PCR.
In this cross sectional study, sixty clinical samples were collected from Dey and Motahhari Hospitals, Tehran, Iran. Following identification of isolates by biochemical methods, Antibiogram test was performed using disc diffusion method with different antibiotics. Multiplex PCR method was performed to identify the desired genes.
37 out of 60 (61.66%) male and 23 out of 60 (38.34%) female specimens were positive for pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest level of antibiotic resistance of the Pseudomonas aeroginosa isolates was observed against ceftriaxone (93.33%). The prevalence rate of virulence genes among all isolates was as follows; lasB (61.7%), toxA (60%), algD (43.3%) and exoS (5%).
Elastase, exotoxin A and alginate are considered important virulence factors of pseudomonas aeruginosa and they play a major role in causing diseases and tissue and skin lesions.