Genotypic and phenotypic comparison of vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolated in 2009 and 2011 in a hospital in Minas Gerais

Abstract

Enterococcus sp. has the ability to acquire plasmids which carry genes of antibiotic resistance and / or virulence. The sum of mechanisms of resistance and presence of virulence factors may worsen the patient's infection and its treatment. Vancomycin resistance can be acquired through the acquisition of plasmid carrying a transposon with genes that alter the bacterial cell wall and decrease the vancomycin affinity. In general, mobile genetic elements and insertion elements (IS) and transposons are common in microbial genome components and further genotypic and phenotypic variations. IS elements can disrupt genes, but can also alter the expression of genes in a row. The prevalence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) in hospitals in Brazil is still low compared with other countries. A hospital in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais and sixth most populous city in Brazil provide 63 VRE isolated in 2009 and 47 in 2011 from infected and colonized patients. Only Enterococccus faecalis were selected for this project. The strains will be studied regarding the presence of virulence factors, the clones detected by the pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), the type of transposon and the susceptibility profile using only traditional drugs and new drugs that were approved by ANVISA (tigecycline, daptomycin and linezolid). It is of interest to test the newly approved drugs and compare its efficiency with drugs previously available in our country. It will be very important for the physicians to obtain information on PFGE profile and the type of transposon involved in these strains, as well as the susceptibility to new drugs available in the country so that we can check the advantages of using them.