title: Detection of bla(OXA-23) in Acinetobacter spp. isolated from patients of a university hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acinetobacter spp. have emerged as notorious pathogens involved in healthcare-associated infections. Carbapenems are important antimicrobial agents for treating infections due to multidrug resistant Acinetobacter spp. Different mechanisms may confer resistance to these drugs in the genus, particularly production of class D carbapenemases. OXA-23-like family has been pointed out as one of the predominant carbapenamases among Acinetobacter. The present work aimed to investigate the occurrence of OXA-23-like carbapenemases among Acinetobacter isolates recovered from patients of a university hospital in Niterói, RJ, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles were determined by disk-diffusion. Imipenem resistant isolates were submitted to Modified Hodge Test in order to screen for carbapenemase production, and later to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to investigate the presence of bla(OXA-23).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Imipenem and meropenem resistance rates were 71.4% and 69.7%, respectively. The Modified Hodge Test revealed carbapenemase production among 76 (89.4%) of the 85 imipenem resistant isolates analyzed; according to PCR results, 81 isolates (95.4%) carried the bla(OXA-23) gene.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OXA-23-like enzymes may be an important mechanism of carbapenem resistance among isolates present in the hospital studied.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Pathology, Medical School, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, RJ, Brazil. lais_lisboa@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Laís Lisboa
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Corrêa
authors.forename: Larissa Alvarenga Batista
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Botelho
authors.forename: Lívia Carvalho
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Claudio Simões
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.forename: Jupira Miron
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carballido
authors.forename: Carmem Lúcia Teixeira
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: de Castro
authors.forename: Pedro Juan Jose
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Mondino
authors.forename: Geraldo Renato
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: de Paula
authors.forename: Silvia Susana Bona
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: de Mondino
authors.forename: Claudia Rezende Vieira
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: de Mendonça-Souza
mesh_terms: D000150:Acinetobacter / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001938:Brazil; D052978:Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001618:beta-Lactamases; C410345:beta-lactamase OXA-24