Co-production of AmpC and extended spectrum beta-lactamases in cephalosporin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Egypt

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen that has been held responsible for a lot of infections worldwide. Infections caused by this pathogen are difficult to control because of the widespread of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. The aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC β-lactamases among isolates of A. baumannii collected from different clinical sources in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing has demonstrated elevated resistance level to β-lactams, quinolones and aminoglycosides. All isolates were sensitive to colistin and polymyxin B. ESBL activity was detected in 86% of the isolates. Among the tested ESBL encoding genes, blaTEM gene was the most prevalent gene as it was detected in 52% of the isolates. While blaPER, blaSHV and blaVEB were detected in 12%, 4%, and 2%, respectively. AmpC activity and blaADC gene were detected in 90% of the tested isolates. Insertion sequence ISAba1 was located 9 bp upstream of blaADC gene in 88.9% of the ADC-expressing isolates providing a potent promoter activity for its expression. To our knowledge this is the first report of loss of intrinsic ADC activity, in 10% of the tested isolates, as a result of insertional inactivation by an element belonging to IS5 family transposase. Co-expression of both ESBLs and AmpC β-lactamases was detected in 78% of the isolates. The study demonstrates high prevalence of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics through ESBLs and AmpC β-lactamases production among A. baumannii clinical isolates. Prevalence of β-lactamases should be detected routinely and reported in hospitals to avoid inappropriate use of antibiotics and therapeutic failure.