title: Decreased susceptibility to nitroimidazoles among Bacteroides species in Brazil.
abstract: In this study, 197 strains of Bacteroides genus from different species and origins were evaluated with regard to their susceptibility to 5-nitroimidazoles (5-Ni)-such as tinidazole, ornidazole, and metronidazole-using the agar dilution method. The presence of nim genes was also investigated by polymerase chain reaction. It was found that 5.6% of Bacteroides strains among all origins showed decreased susceptibility (minimum inhibitory concentrations varying from 4 to 16 microg/ml) to at least one of the imidazoles studied without any known nim gene associate. Also, we detected one strain isolated from a polluted aquatic environment in which one nim gene was found and characterized as nim B using restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing. Hence, resistance to 5-Ni should be monitored closely because they constitute, among few drugs, the ones quite effective in treating Bacteroides infections.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia de Anaeróbios, Departamento de Microbiologia Médica, Instituto de Microbiologia Professor Paulo de Góes, CCS, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. jmanya@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Jessica Manya
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: B D Vieira
authors.forename: Renata F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Boente
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rodrigues Miranda
authors.forename: Kátia E S
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Avelar
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: M C P Domingues
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Candida de S Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001442:Bacteroides Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009593:Nitroimidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009593:Nitroimidazoles