A Survey of Integrons and Their Relationships with Antibiotic Resistance Among the Escherichia coli Isolates Collected from Urinary Tract Infection of Patients referred to the hospitals in Tehran, Iran

Escherichia coli strains are the most important cause of urinary tract infection. Integrons are considered as one of the transfer mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. The aim of the present study was detection of integrons and their realtionships with antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli isolates. Material &Methods Totally, 150 E.coli isolates was collected from urine of patients with urinary tract infection in hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Evaluation of resistance to antibiotics and identification of isolates producing Extended-Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) were done using the disk diffusion and combined disk diffusion tests, respectively. Amplification of integron gene class I in the isolates was performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Findings: The resistance rate of isolates to antibiotics was amoxicillin (71.3%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (64%), cefotaxime (55.3%), ceftazidime (52.7%), ciprofloxacin (52%), norfloxacin (46.7%), gentamicin (19.3%), meropenem (3.3%), amikacin (2%) and imipenem (0%). Seventy isolates were considered as multiple drug resistance producing isolates (MDR) and 56 (37.3%) isolates showed the ability of ESBLs production. 34 (22.7%) isolates harbored the integron class I. There was a significant relationship between the ESBL producing isolates and MDR resistance and also between the presence of integron class I and MDR resistance. There was a significant rate of resistance to the majority of tested antibiotics with production of ESBL that could be related to the presence of integrons class I. Thus, it suggests more studies need to be conducted to provide better conditions for prevention of antibiotic resistance