Antibiotics (Jan 2020)

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing for <i>Corynebacterium</i> Species Isolated from Clinical Samples in Romania

  • Cristiana Cerasella Dragomirescu,
  • Brandusa Elena Lixandru,
  • Ileana Luminita Coldea,
  • Olguta Nicoleta Corneli,
  • Marina Pana,
  • Andi Marian Palade,
  • Violeta Corina Cristea,
  • Ioana Suciu,
  • George Suciu,
  • Loredana Sabina Cornelia Manolescu,
  • Loredana Gabriela Popa,
  • Mircea Ioan Popa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9010031
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
p. 31

Abstract

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Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most important public health issues. Besides classical multidrug resistance species associated with medical care involved in superficial or invasive infections, there are strains less commonly associated with hospital or outpatient setting’s infections. Non-diphtheria Corynebacterium spp. could produce infections in patients with or without immune-compromised status. The aim of our study was to determine the susceptibility to antimicrobial agents to Corynebacterium spp. from clinical samples collected from Romanian hospitalized individuals and outpatients. Twenty Corynebacterium strains were isolated and identified as Corynebacterium striatum (n = 7), Corynebacterium amycolatum (n = 7), C. urealyticum (n = 3), Corynebacterium afermentans (n = 2), and Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum (n = 1). All isolates have been tested for antibiotic susceptibility by standardized disc diffusion method and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests. Seventeen isolates demonstrated multidrug resistance phenotypes. The molecular support responsible for high resistance to quinolones for ten of these strains was determined by the detection of point mutation in the gene sequence gyrA.

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