Antimicrobial resistance and virulence potential of staphylococci isolated from diabetic foot infections

Abstract

Diabetes is a chronic disorder that affects a large segment of the population. Therefore, it is an important public health problem. Approximately one-fourth of people with diabetes will develop an ulcer during their lifetime, and as many as half of these ulcers will become infected. These lesions present polymicrobial characteristics, which facilitate horizontal gene transfer and the development of many multiresistant strains. In addition, the specific organisms found in diabetic foot infections may differ not only from patient to patient and hospital to hospital, but also from one part of the country to the other. In this study, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolated from diabetic foot ulcers will be identified, genotyped and screened for virulence and antimicrobial resistance traits. Genetic relationship amongst isolates will be evaluated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and PCR will be applied for detection of virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes. Whereas studies on the molecular characterization of multi-resistant bacterial strains are still incipient in our country, the aim of this study is provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of acquired-multidrug resistance and virulence factors produced by Staphylococci. Our results will also provide a better understanding of the successful dissemination of these genes, which will produce a positive impact on clinical practice. (AU)