[Clinical utility of DNA fingerprinting by arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) in nosocomial infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus].
Recently, nosocomial outbreaks of MRSA have become an serious social problem in Japan. To examine the routes of transmission of MRSA, the establishment of an accurate MRSA typing system is essential. Previously, we reported that the DNA fingerprinting by AP-PCR might be a useful method to differentiate MRSA strains. In this study, we tried to investigate the clinical usefulness of DNA fingerprinting by AP-PCR using clinically-isolated MRSA strains. Twenty-four MRSA strains (12 with coagulase type IV, and 12 with coagulase type II) isolated from patients in our department were used. Other typing methods (the sensitivity of antibiotics, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and plasmid analysis) were also performed. As a result, the typing pattern by AP-PCR correlated well with other typing methods. MRSA strains with coagulase type IV showed almost the same pattern, suggesting that these strains were nosocomially transmitted. On the other hand, MRSA strains with coagulase type II showed various patterns, suggesting these strains were not nosocomially transmitted. In conclusion, the typing by AP-PCR seemed to be a useful tool evaluate a nosocomial MRSA transmission.
Hojo
S
S
First Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical School.
Fujita
J
J
Negayama
K
K
Ohnishi
T
T
Xu
G
G
Yamaji
Y
Y
Okada
H
H
Takahara
J
J
D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D006801:Humans; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012703:Serotyping; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification