AUTHOR=Lee Learn-Han , Ab Mutalib Nurul-Syakima , Law Jodi Woan-Fei , Wong Sunny Hei , Letchumanan Vengadesh 

TITLE=Discovery on Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Selangor Reveals Carbapenemase Producing Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Marine and Freshwater Fish

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02513

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.02513

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic>, a Gram-negative halophilic bacterium is often associated with fish and fishery products, thus causing gastroenteritis in humans upon ingestion of contaminated food. <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> has become a globally well-known pathogen with yearly reported cases in many countries. This study aimed to discover the antibiotic resistance patterns of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> as well as detect Carbapenem resistant isolates from marine and freshwater fish in Selangor. A total of 240 freshwater and marine fish samples collected from wet market and supermarket in Selangor were tested for the presence of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic>. All the fish samples were determined positive for <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> using conventional microbiological culture-based method. The <italic>toxR</italic> gene were detected via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 165/240 (69%) isolates. The two-virulence factor of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic>, thermostable direct hemolysin (<italic>tdh</italic>) and TDH-related hemolysin (<italic>trh</italic>) was screened via PCR. As such, four isolates were <italic>trh</italic>+and none were <italic>tdh</italic>+. Majority of the isolates presented high resistance to ampicillin (88%), amikacin (64%), and kanamycin (50%). In addition, this study identified 19-imipenem resistant isolates isolated from freshwater and marine fish samples. Further analysis of these 19-imipenem resistant isolates revealed that the resistance toward imipenem was plasmid mediated after plasmid curing assay. The multiple antibiotics resistance index was &gt;0.2 for 70% of the isolates. In summary, the results confirm the presence of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> in freshwater and marine fish samples in Selangor, Malaysia. To our best knowledge, this is the first report discovering the antibiotic resistant patterns and Carbapenem-resistant isolates of <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> isolated from marine and freshwater fish samples in Selangor.</p>