Antibiotic resistance pattern of heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) producing Escherichia coli isolated from children with diarrhoea in Bangladesh: clonal relationships among isolates with different resistant phenotypes.
Fifty-six heat-labile, enterotoxin-producing (LT+) Escherichia coli isolated from 33 children less than 5 years of age with diarrhoea were analysed for resistance to antibiotics, plasmid contents, and clonal relationships among isolates by ribosomal RNA (rRNA) fingerprinting (ribotyping). Fifty-five (98.2%) of the LT+ isolates were resistant either to tetracycline alone (48.2%) or to tetracycline and one or more other antibiotic, i.e. ampicillin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, or nalidixic acid. Most of the isolates harboured one or more plasmid but antibiotic resistance patterns did not always correlate with particular plasmid patterns. Ribotyping of the isolates using the restriction endonuclease EcoRI revealed a total of 7 different ribotypes, and ribotypes were shared by E. coli isolates with different antibiotic resistant phenotypes. The results indicate that in Bangladesh at least 7 different clones of LT+ E. coli acquired resistance to one or more different antibiotics in various combinations. However, a similar drug resistance pattern was not mediated by the same set of plasmids in all strains. The mechanism for the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance among E. coli should be investigated further in Bangladesh, where LT+ E. coli is an important agent of early childhood diarrhoea.
Faruque
S M
SM
Molecular Biology Laboratory, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka.
Rahman
M M
MM
Alim
A R
AR
Hoq
M M
MM
Albert
M J
MJ
D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism; D001459:Bangladesh; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010641:Phenotype; D011815:R Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; C027538:heat-labile enterotoxin, E coli