title: PCR-based identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains and their antibiotic resistance profiles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluated the PCR for mecA gene compared with the conventional oxacillin disk diffusion method for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) identification.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 292 S. aureus strains were isolated from various clinical specimens obtained from hospitalized patients. Susceptibility test to several antimicrobial agents was performed by disk diffusion agar according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The PCR amplification of the mecA gene was carried out in all the clinical isolates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among antibiotics used in our study, penicillin showed the least anti-staphylococcal activity and vancomycin was the most effective. The rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus prevalence determined by oxacillin disk diffusion method was 47.6%; whereas, 45.1% of S. aureus isolates were mecA- positive in the PCR assay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is suggestive that the PCR for detection of mecA gene is a fast, accurate and valuable diagnostic tool, particularly in hospitals in areas where methicillin-resistant S. aureus is endemic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abazar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pournajaf
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdollah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardebili
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Leyla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goudarzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khodabandeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Tahmineh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Narimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abbaszadeh
keywords: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Oxacillin disk diffusion; PCR; mecA gene