Maryam Rezaeian, Laleh Hoveida,
Volume 19, Issue 1 (4-2025)
Abstract
Background: Infections caused by bacteria transmitted from food, including Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), and Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) resistant to carbapenems, are spreading, and this has caused concerns in the field of treatment. This study investigated the frequency of carbapenem resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa, and A. baumannii isolated from raw chicken meat.
Method: In this cross-sectional study, 100 samples of raw chicken meat were collected from Isfahan. Bacterial infection was evaluated and confirmed using biomedical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity tests were performed using disc diffusion for Enterobacteriaceae, P. aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii isolates. The frequency of genes encoding resistance to carbapenems (OXA-181, OXA-48, VIM, NDM, IMP, and KPC) was determined through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis.
Results: Out of 100 samples, 70 were positive for bacterial infection, of which 30 were infected with Escherichia coli (E. coli), 14 samples with Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), 9 samples with Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium), 11 samples with P. aeruginosa, and 6 samples were infected with A. baumannii. The highest amount of antibiotic resistance was estimated to be tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, gentamicin, trimethoprim, and streptomycin, and the lowest amount was azithromycin and rifampin. Among genes encoding resistance to carbapenem, NDM and OXA-48 genes were the most commonly expressed, with a frequency of 60% and 28.24%, respectively.
Conclusion: The study found significant bacterial contamination, especially for Enterobacteriaceae, with notable antibiotic resistance to tetracycline. Carbapenem resistance genes NDM and OXA-48 were prevalent, indicating the urgency of addressing antibiotic resistance.
