title: High level of ciprofloxacin resistance and its molecular background among Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated in the United Arab Emirates.
abstract: The antibiotic sensitivity and the serotype and molecular type (MT) distribution of 41 Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from individual patients in Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, were investigated. While all strains were sensitive to erythromycin (MIC 0.5-4 mg l(-1)), 35 isolates (85.4 %) exhibited resistance to ciprofloxacin (MIC 8-64 mg l(-1)). All resistant strains carried the Thr-86 to Ile mutation in the gyrase A (gyrA) gene, as shown by mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA) and confirmed by sequencing. Based on the partial sequences of gyrA, resistant isolates carried 10 distinct alleles, eight of them representing new variants. Strains were assigned to 30 MTs based on the combined results of PFGE and flaA PCR-RFLP typing. Eight of the 35 ciprofloxacin-resistant strains, isolated over a period of more than 1 year, represented the largest MT, also carrying the same allelic variant of the gyrA gene. These results show that the local incidence of fluoroquinolone resistance among C. jejuni is one of the highest reported worldwide. It was also demonstrated that stable MTs could persist for a relatively long time among the clonally unrelated antibiotic-resistant isolates of C. jejuni. The data also emphasize the need to replace fluoroquinolones as empirical therapy for diarrhoea of undiagnosed aetiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Ágnes
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Sonnevend
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kuwait, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Vincent O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Rotimi
authors.affiliation: Zoonoses and Emerging Infections Group, Clinical Virology, Clinical Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kolodziejek
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Asad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Usmani
authors.affiliation: Zoonoses and Emerging Infections Group, Clinical Virology, Clinical Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria.|Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nowotny
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.|Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Tibor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pál
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D027081:DNA Gyrase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014479:United Arab Emirates
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D002939:Ciprofloxacin; D027081:DNA Gyrase