Clonality and virulence of VRE strains among hematological patients

Abstract

Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is an important agent of colonization and infections among hematological patients mainly hematopoietic stem cell (HSCT) patients. One study evaluated patients with neutropenia for more than seven days and found infection in 38% of patients colonized with VRE. Bacteremia was the most common, comprising 26% of infections. In several studies evaluating patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell (HSCT) has been demonstrated by VRE bacteremia rate of between 3.6 and 22%, and mortality up to 85%Besides the problem caused by antimicrobial resistance, enterococci can also produce various virulence factors, including the aggregation substance (asa1), gelatinase (Gel), cytolysin (cyl), surface protein (esp) and glycosyl hydrolase (hyl ), making this pathogen becomes even more worrying.The objective of this study is to determine the clonality by the technique of PFGE (Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis) of strains of colonization and infection and determining the presence of virulence genes and resistance by PCR method. The MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) will be done to obtain a profile of sensitivity of the clonal lineages for antimicrobials used in the fight against enterococci and complete genome sequencing by the method of Ion Torrent PGMTM of samples from different clones of isolates of VRE. The results of this study can be helpful to address measures to control and prevent this agent. (AU)