AUTHOR=El-Tarabili Reham M. , Ahmed Elsayyad M. , Alharbi Nada K. , Alharbi Maha A. , AlRokban Ahlam H. , Naguib Doaa , Alhag Sadeq K. , El Feky Tamer Mohamed , Ahmed Ahmed Ezzat , Mahmoud Ahmed E. 

TITLE=Prevalence, antibiotic profile, virulence determinants, ESBLs, and non-β-lactam encoding genes of MDR Proteus spp. isolated from infected dogs

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.952689

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.952689

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>This study investigated the prevalence, antibiogram, virulence, extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and non-β-lactam encoding genes of <italic>Proteus</italic> species isolated from infected dogs in Ismailia province, Egypt. The study was conducted on 70 fecal swabs collected from dogs with diarrhea for bacteriological identification of <italic>Proteus</italic> spp<italic>.</italic> The positive isolates were evaluated for antibiotic susceptibility, molecular tests of virulence, ESBLs, and non-β-lactam encoding genes. Prevalence of <italic>Proteus</italic> spp. was 35.7% (25/70), including <italic>Proteus mirabilis</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 23) and <italic>Proteus vulgaris</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 2). The <italic>Proteus</italic> spp<italic>.</italic> prevalence revealed diversity, higher in males than females, in ages &lt; 12 weeks. Investigation of antimicrobial resistance was found against penicillin and amoxicillin (100%), amoxicillin–clavulanic acid (32%), cephalosporins: cefotaxime and ceftazidime (36%), and monobactam: aztreonam (28%) as ESBLs, in addition to tetracycline (32%) and trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole (100%). The strains retrieved by PCR revealed <italic>ure</italic>C, <italic>zap</italic>A, and <italic>rsb</italic>A virulence genes with variant prevalence as 92%, 60%, and 52%, respectively. In addition, the recovered strains contained ESBL genes with a dramatic variable prevalence of 100%, 92%, 36%, and 32%, to <italic>bla</italic><sub>TEM</sub>, <italic>bla</italic><sub>SHV</sub>, <italic>bla</italic><sub>CTX-M</sub>, and <italic>bla</italic><sub>OXA-1</sub>, respectively, and non β-lactam encoding genes with a prevalence of 100%, 48%, 44%, 20%, and 12%, to <italic>sul</italic>1, <italic>tet</italic>A, <italic>int</italic>I1, <italic>qnr</italic>A, and <italic>aad</italic>A1. Moreover, 28% (7/25) of recovering strains were MDR (multidrug-resistant) up to four classes of antimicrobials, and 48% (12/25) of the examined strains were MDR up to three antimicrobial classes. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, our study could be the first report recording MDR <italic>Proteus</italic> spp. in dogs in Egypt.</p>