Abstract
The drug resistance pattern of infectious A. baumannii isolates of Saudi Arabia was evaluated and the integrons in samples were characterized. The isolates were obtained from patients of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between drug resistance and the presence of integrons in A. baumannii isolates. A total 84 A. baumannii isolates were collected from different sources. Identification of isolates was carried out by conventional methods as well as by VITEK 2 technology system. Antibiotic resistance of A. baumannii isolates was determined by disc diffusion method. PCR amplification was conducted to detect the presence of intI1, intI2, intI3 in isolates. Majority of the isolates (66.7%) were found resistant to 5 or more antibiotics while gentamicin was proved to be most inhibitory. All resistant A. baumannii isolates were also positive for class 1 integrons with gene cassettes of different sizes. On the other hand, all except one antibiotic sensitive isolate was devoid of any class 1 integrons. The DNA sequencing of PCR amplified class I integrons revealed the presence of different gene cassettes such as aac(3)-Ia, dfrA15, aac(6')-Ib, dfrA17, dfrA7, aadA5 etc. The obtained results are compelling for a strong association between antibiotic resistance and the presence of class 1 integrons in these A. baumannii isolates.