title: Antimicrobial susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates from symptomatic men attending the Nanjing sexually transmitted diseases clinic (2011-2012): genetic characteristics of isolates with reduced sensitivity to ceftriaxone.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evolving gonococcal antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to public health. The aim of this study was to: update antimicrobial susceptibility data of Neisseria gonorrhoeae recently isolated in Nanjing, China and identify specific deteminants of antimicrobial resistance and gentoypes of isolates with decreased sensitivity to ceftriaxone.
  
  
  METHODS
  334 N. gonorrhoeae isolates were collected consecutively from symptomatic men attending the Nanjing STD Clinic between April 2011 and December 2012. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for penicillin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin and ceftriaxone were determined by agar plate dilution for each isolate. Penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and tetracycline-resistant N. gonorrhoeae (TRNG) were examined and typed for β-lactamase and tetM encoding plasmids respectively. Isolates that displayed elevated MICs to ceftriaxone (MIC ≥0.125 mg/L) were also tested for mutations in penA, mtrR, porB1b, ponA and pilQ genes and characterized by Neisseria gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing (NG-MAST).
  
  
  RESULTS
  98.8% (330/334) of N. gonorrhoeae isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin; 97.9% (327/334) to tetracycline and 67.7% (226/334) to penicillin. All isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone (MIC ≤0.25 mg/L) and spectinomycin (MIC ≤32 mg/L). Plasmid mediated resistance was exhibited by 175/334 (52%) of isolates: 120/334 (36%) of isolates were PPNG and 104/334 (31%) were TRNG. 90.0% (108/120) of PPNG isolates carried the Asia type β-lactamase encoding plasmid and 96% (100/104) of TRNG isolates carried the Dutch type tetM containing plasmid. Elevated MICs for ceftriaxone were present in 15 (4.5%) isolates; multiple mutations were found in penA, mtrR, porB1b and ponA genes. The 15 isolates were distributed into diverse NG-MAST sequence types; four different non-mosaic penA alleles were identified, including one new type.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  N. gonorrhoeae isolates in Nanjing generally retained similar antimicrobial resistance patterns to isolates obtained five years ago. Fluctuations in resistance plasmid profiles imply that genetic exchange among gonococcal strains is ongoing and is frequent. Ceftriaxone and spectinomycin remain treatments of choice of gonorrhea in Nanjing, however, decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone and rising MICs for spectinomycin of N. gonorrhoeae isolates underscore the importance of maintaining surveillance for AMR (both phenotypic and genotypic).
authors.affiliation: STD Clinic, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, 210042, China. wslisai@163.com.
authors.forename: Sai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: STD Clinic, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, 210042, China. suxh@ncstdlc.org.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: STD Clinic, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, 210042, China. lewenjing613@163.com.
authors.forename: Wen-Jing
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Anhui Provincial Hospital, Hefei, 230001, China. jiangfxing@126.com.
authors.forename: Fa-Xing
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: STD Clinic, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, 210042, China. wangbx@ncstdlc.org.
authors.forename: Bao-Xi
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01602, USA. peter.rice@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rice
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002443:Ceftriaxone; D001618:beta-Lactamases