Molecular investigation of LasA, LasB, and PIV genes in clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Mazandaran Province, North Iran

Abstract

Aims: Pseudomonas aeruginosa plays an important role in hospital infections caused by several virulence factors, such as elastase and proteases. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of LasA, LasB, and PIV genes, encoding these enzymes, in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa. Materials and methods: One hundred clinical isolates were collected from patients admitted to educational and therapeutic hospitals of Mazandaran Province, North Iran. The isolates were identified by the standard microbiological and biochemical tests. The bacterial DNA was extracted by the alkaline lysis method, and the presence of relevant genes was detected using the PCR method. The data were analyzed using SPSS v. 23 and the chi-square test. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In 100 clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, the LasA, LasB, and PIV genes were presented with a frequency of 97%, 96%, and 97%, respectively. Of the total number of samples, 39 patients were female and 61 were male. Also, the majority of the patients were between 61 and 70 years old. Conclusion: LasA, LasB, and PIV are highly prevalent in clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, indicating the importance of these genes as key virulence factors in P. aeruginosa pathogenicity in this region.