title: Clonal diversity of Acinetobacter baumannii from diabetic patients in Saudi Arabian hospitals.
abstract: Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CR-AB) represents a major health-care problem, causing high rates of morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the clonality of CR-AB isolated from diabetic patients from different regions in Saudi Arabia, as well as the relatedness of the β-lactamase genes. A total of 64 non-repetitive CR-AB clinical isolates were collected from 16 different regions in Saudi Arabia from intensive care patients. Isolates were identified phenotypically by the Vitek 2 compact system and genotypically by amplification of the blaOXA-51-like gene. The target sequences were amplified by PCR and the clonal diversity of the isolates was explored by PFGE. Resistance studies revealed that the prevalence of imipenem and meropenem resistance was 92% and 96%, respectively, while the vast majority of the isolates were susceptible to tigecycline and colistin. In addition, blaVIM and blaOXA-23 were the most prevalent genes in the isolates under investigation, while ISAba1 was the most dominant insertion sequence. PFGE results showed 13 clusters; clone H was dominant, comprising 20 isolates from four hospitals, followed by clones C and F, comprising 11 isolates each from three and six hospitals, respectively. Moreover, the current study signified the clonal diversity of CR-AB in Saudi Arabia and showed the ability of some clones to infect patients in many different cities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, PO Box 400, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdulrahman A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Alsultan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, El-Khartoum Square, Azarita, Alexandria 21521, Egypt.|Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, PO Box 400, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Elsayed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aboulmagd
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK.
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, The Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK.
authors.forename: Sebastian G B
authors.initials: SGB
authors.lastname: Amyes
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D015780:Carbapenems / Q000494:pharmacology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015780:Carbapenems