title: Virulence and resistance features of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from chronic leg ulcers.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the virulence profiles of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical strains recently isolated from patients hospitalized for chronic leg ulcers in the Dermatology Department of Central Military Emergency University Hospital "Carol Davila", Bucharest, Romania.
  
  
  
  The phenotypic screening evaluated eight soluble virulence factors (haemolysins, lecithinase, lipase, caseinase, gelatinase, amylase, DNase, aesculin hydrolysis), as well as adherence ability (Cravioto adapted method) and invasion capacity on HeLa cells (gentamicin protection assay). Seven virulence genes encoding for protease IV, 3 exoenzymes (exoS, exoT, exoU), two phospholipases plcH- haemolytic phospholipase C and plcN- non-haemolytic phospholipase C) and alginate were investigated by PCR.
  
  
  
  The pore forming toxins and enzymes were expressed in variable proportions, the majority of the tested strains producing beta haemolysin (92.3 %), lipase (76.9 %) and lecithinase (61.5 %). The most frequent virulence genes detected in the analyzed strains were the ExoT (100 %) and AlgD (92.3 %) genes, genes codifying for phospholipases (84.6 % each of them) and for protease IV (61.5 %).
  
  
  
  This study reveals that correlating virulence profiles and infection clinical outcome is very useful for setting up efficient preventive and therapeutic procedures for hospitalized patients with chronic leg ulcers and positive P. aeruginosa cultures.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Department, Central University Emergency Military Hospital Dr Carol Davila, Bucharest, Romania.|Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Georgescu
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.|Research Institute of the University of Bucharest -ICUB, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gheorghe
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.|Research Institute of the University of Bucharest -ICUB, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Curutiu
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.|Research Institute of the University of Bucharest -ICUB, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lazar
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania. cbleotu@yahoo.com.|Ștefan S Nicolau Institute of Virology, Romanian Academy, 030304, Bucharest, Romania. cbleotu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Coralia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bleotu
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania.|Research Institute of the University of Bucharest -ICUB, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Mariana-Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chifiriuc
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012383:Romania; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Chronic leg ulcers; Genetic and phenotypic virulence factors; Pseudomonas aeruginosa