JAC Advance Access originally published online on March 31, 2004
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2004) 53, 814-817
© 2004 The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
erm(C) is the predominant genetic determinant for the expression of resistance to macrolides among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates in Greece
1 Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Patras, Rion 26500, Patras; 2 Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Thessalia, Larissa, Greece
Received 17 September 2003; returned 8 December 2003; revised 14 January 2004; accepted 24 February 2004
Objectives: Macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin type B (MLSB) resistance was determined in Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates from two University Hospitals.
Methods: Antibiotic resistance was investigated by double disc diffusion and MIC determination. Resistance determinants were detected by PCR and DNA hybridization, while clonal types were identified by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of SmaI DNA fragments.
Results: Among methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates, inducible and MS phenotypes were detected, with the predominance of the erm(A) gene, followed by the msr(A) and erm(C) genes. The majority of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates expressed the constitutive phenotype and carried the erm(C) gene. PFGE revealed the dissemination of two major clones among the MRSA in both hospitals.
Conclusions: erm(C) is the predominant genetic determinant for the expression of MLSB resistance among S. aureus isolates, especially MRSA, in Greece. This is due to the spread of two major clones in the country.
Keywords: erythromycin, clindamycin, staphylococci, mechanisms, typing
* Corresponding author. Tel: +30-2610-993978; Fax: +30-2610-994922; E-mail: spiliopl{at}med.upatras.gr
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. V. N. O'Sullivan, Y. Cai, F. Kong, X. Zeng, and G. L. Gilbert Influence of Disk Separation Distance on Accuracy of the Disk Approximation Test for Detection of Inducible Clindamycin Resistance in Staphylococcus spp. J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2006; 44(11): 4072 - 4076. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Novotna, V. Adamkova, J. Janata, O. Melter, and J. Spizek Prevalence of Resistance Mechanisms against Macrolides and Lincosamides in Methicillin-Resistant Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci in the Czech Republic and Occurrence of an Undefined Mechanism of Resistance to Lincosamides Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., August 1, 2005; 49(8): 3586 - 3589. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Petinaki, I. Spiliopoulou, M. Maniati, and A. N. Maniatis Emergence of Staphylococcus hominis strains expressing low-level resistance to quinupristin/dalfopristin in Greece J. Antimicrob. Chemother., May 1, 2005; 55(5): 811 - 812. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|