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Staphylococcus aureus is a major cause of food poisoning due to their ability to produce enterotoxins which if ingested in sufficient amounts results in sickness. Food handlers carrying enterotoxin-producing S. aureus in their noses or hands can contaminate food leading to food poisoning. We characterized 200 S. aureus obtained from food handlers i...
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This study characterized EMRSA-15 isolates obtained from patients in Kuwait hospitals for their genotypic relatedness, antibiotic resistance and carriage of virulence genes using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), coagulase serotyping, SCCmec subtyping, spa typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and DNA microarray. The isolates were resist...
Objective:
The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic resistance trends and carriage of staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) genetic elements in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated in Kuwait hospitals to ascertain whether they were healthcare-associated (HA-MRSA) or community-associated (CA-MRSA).
Materi...
Lactobacilli are widely used as starter cultures or probiotics in yoghurt, cheese, beer, wine, pickles, preserved food, and silage. They are generally recognized as safe (GRAS). However, recent studies have shown that some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains carry antibiotic resistance genes and are resistant to antibiotics. Some of them may even tr...
Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major pathogen causing healthcare- and community- acquired infections. The purpose of this study was to characterize MRSA isolated at the Maternity Hospital between 2006 and 2011 for their genetic relatedness.The MRSA isolates were investigated using a combination of antibiogram, Staphylococc...
Citations
... The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in slaughter animals is one of the main factors contributing to the increased detection and spread of antimicrobial resistance in strains isolated from food products (Tiedje et al., 2023). Additionally, it is important to highlight the possibility of food handlers being a potential reservoir and transmission medium for virulent and antimicrobial-resistant strains of S. aureus, including MRSA, as these handlers can be sources of contamination in food production (Udo et al., 2009). In the production of artisanal cheeses, strains transferred to the food through handlers may exhibit antibiotic resistance, as reported by André et al. (2008). ...
... In this study, agr typing revealed that all VRSA strains were assigned to two agr allelic groups with agr I predominated VRSA strains (66.7%), followed by agr III (33.3%); meanwhile, none of the strains was positive for agr types II and IV. These findings were reported in previous papers reported elsewhere (Ruzin et al., 2001;Peerayeh et al., 2009;Udo et al., 2009;Abd El-Hamid and Bendary, 2013). ...
Introduction
As a growing direction, nano-based therapy has become a successful paradigm used to address the phytogenic delivery-related problems in overcoming multivirulent vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) infection.
Methods
Hence, our aim was to develop and assess a novel nanocarrier system (mesoporous silica nanoparticles, MPS-NPs) for free berberine (Free-BR) as an antimicrobial alkaloid against strong biofilm-producing and multi-virulent VRSA strains using in vitro and in vivo mouse model.
Results and discussion
Our outcomes demonstrated vancomycin resistance in 13.7% of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strains categorized as VRSA. Notably, strong biofilm formation was observed in 69.2% of VRSA strains that were all positive for icaA gene. All strong biofilm-producing VRSA strains harbored a minimum of two virulence genes comprising clfA and icaA with 44.4% of them possessing all five virulence genes (icaA, tst, clfA, hla, and pvl), and 88.9% being multi-virulent. The study findings affirmed excellent in vitro antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties of BR-loaded MPS-NPs. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assay displayed the downregulating role of BR-loaded MPS-NPs on strong biofilm-producing and multi-virulent VRSA strains virulence and agr genes in both in vitro and in vivo mice models. Additionally, BR-loaded MPS-NPs supplementation has a promising role in attenuating the upregulated expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines’ genes in VRSA-infected mice with attenuation in pro-apoptotic genes expression resulting in reduced VRSA-induced apoptosis. In essence, the current study recommends the future scope of using BR-loaded MPS-NPs as auspicious alternatives for antimicrobials with tremendous antimicrobial, antibiofilm, anti-quorum sensing (QS), and anti-virulence effectiveness against problematic strong biofilm-producing and multi-virulent VRSA-associated infections.
... Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (sea) is the most frequently identified cause of SFP, and classic enterotoxins (sea, seb, sec, sed, and see) are associated with the most reported food poisoning outbreaks (Cha et al., 2006). In Kuwait, a study of 200 isolates obtained from food handlers in various restaurants with suspected SFP revealed that the majority of isolates were resistant to various antibacterial agents, and that 71% of the isolates harbored genes for SEs, with sei being the most prevalent (Udo et al., 2009). In the present study, the enterotoxin-like gene selX was found in 95% of the patient isolates, followed by the sem and sei genes, and sen. ...
Introduction
Staphylococcus aureus is a significant human pathogen that poses a threat to public health due to its association with foodborne contamination and a variety of infections. The factors contributing to the pathogenicity of S. aureus include virulence, drug resistance, and toxin production, making it essential to monitor their prevalence and genetic profiles. This study investigated and compared the genomic characteristics of S. aureus isolates from retail meat and patients in Saudi Arabia.
Methods
A total of 136 S. aureus isolates were obtained between October 2021 and June 2022:84 from patients and 53 from meat samples in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. S. aureus isolates were identified using conventional methods and MALDI-TOF MS, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was identified using VITEK2 and BD Phoenix systems. MRSA was confirmed phenotypically using chromogenic agar, and genotypically by detecting mecA. Genomic data were analyzed using BactopiaV2 pipeline, local BLAST, and MLST databases.
Results
Antibiotic resistance genes were prevalent in both meat and patient S. aureus isolates, with high prevalence of tet38, blaZ, and fosB. Notably, all S. aureus isolates from patients carried multidrug-resistant (MDR) genes, and a high percentage of S. aureus isolates from meat also harbored MDR genes. Phenotypically, 43% of the S. aureus isolates from meat and 100% of the patients’ isolates were MDR. Enterotoxin genes, including selX, sem, and sei, exhibited high compatibility between meat and patient S. aureus isolates. Virulence genes such as cap, hly/hla, sbi, and isd were found in all S. aureus isolates from both sources.
Conclusion
Our study established a genetic connection between S. aureus isolates from meat and patients, showing shared antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. The presence of these genes in meat derived isolates underscores its role as a reservoir. Genomic relatedness also suggests potential transmission of resistance between different settings. These findings emphasize the necessity for a comprehensive approach to monitor and control S. aureus infections in both animals and humans.
... Many further S. aureus virulence attributes augment its pathogenesis such as adhesin [6,8], 18 types of heat-stable staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) [11][12][13][14] causing worldwide foodborne illness [8], exotoxins such as exfoliative toxins (ETs) (A and B) causing staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome [15] and toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1), which is responsible for a multiorgan disease called toxic shock syndrome (TSS) [8,15] and enzymes such as collagenase, hyaluronidase, lipases, proteases, coagulase, and nucleases [16] as thermonuclease (TNase) secretion encoded by nuclease gene (nuc) used for rapid identification of S. aureus owing to its species-specific sequences [16,17]. The SEs, ETs and TSST-1 are staphylococcal pyrogenic toxins, which have a significant role in host colonization, invasion of mucus and damaged skin, intestinal tract infection and evasion from host immune system causing acute staphylococcal toxemia syndrome [16,18,19]. ...
Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) is a foremost human and animal pathogen with public health and veterinary significance causing hospital and community infections and contagious bovine mastitis. Due to its ability to develop multidrug resistance (MDR) and its pathogenicity, MRSA infection control is becoming a global concern. Natural antibacterial options are needed to combat MDR development and infectious dissemination. This study investigated the antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes profiling of MRSA isolates and explored the antivirulence efficacy of trans-cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and carvacrol essential oils (EOs) against multivirulent and MDR-MRSA isolates. 36 Staph aureus isolates (25%) were retrieved, of which 34 (94.4%) were MRSA. A high prevalence of MDR (66.7%) was monitored and all 53 molecularly verified isolates possessed icaA and cna virulence genes. Moreover, 94.1% of these isolates were multivirulent with 23.5% of them carrying icaA, cna, eta, tst, and sea virulence genes. Our data proved superior in vitro antimicrobial and antivirulence activities of trans-cinnamaldehyde, thymol, and carvacrol. They inhibited the growth of multi-virulent and MDR-MRSA isolates and downregulated the transcription of examined virulence genes. Our study suggests using EOs as prospective antimicrobials with excellent antivirulence activities against MRSA isolates. We provided data regarding the eventual role of phytogenics in the prevention and control of MRSA infection.
https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1hbam38ed-XehC
... This result has been supported by studies performed in both the human and poultry sectors [3]. However, our results were in agreement with other studies that were carried out in Kuwait [26]. However, our results were slightly different from those reported in Accra (Ghana), which mentioned that there was variation in resistance observed clearly in some antibiotics for S, aureus in patients with SCD, penicillin (100%), cotrimoxazole (27.5%), tetracycline (25%), rifampicin (82.5%), erythromycin (30%), clindamycin (32.5%), gentamicin (7.5%), cefoxitin (27.5%), linezolid (30%), and fusidic acid (95%) [3]. ...
Staphylococcus aureus in the blood of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients may result in a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. S. aureus strains contain various virulence characteristics, including the ability to create a variety of toxins and develop drug resistance. The current study sought to assess the prevalence of S. aureus in SCD patients and to identify the pathogen’s virulence characteristics. Between 2017 and 2021, blood samples and data were collected at King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Vitek system PCR and gene sequencing methods were used for identification, antibiotic resistance patterns, and genetic analysis. During the study period, 47 S. aureus blood isolates (methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) 41.6% and non-MRSA 58.4%) were isolated from 2406 SCD patients. The prevalence percentages of virulence genes (finbB, sdrC, sdrD, icaA, coa, nuc, hlg, hla, finbA, clfA, efb, pvl, agr, spa, seb, sea, sec, tst, and sed) among all the isolates from the SCD patients compared with non-SCD patients (control group) were as follows: (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 87.5%), (100% vs. 81.3%), (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 100%), (97.9% vs. 81.3%), (97.9% vs. 100%), (97.9% vs. 87.5%), (54.3% vs. 56.3%), (46.8% vs. 75%), (42.6% vs. 43.8%), (27.7% vs. 0%), (25.5% vs. 12.5%), (12.8% vs. 6.3%), (4.3% vs. 12.5%), and (4.3% vs. 0%). Regarding the resistance genes (plaZ, mecA, ermA, ermC, tetK, tetM, and ermB) of the S. aureus strains isolated from the SCD patients compared with non-SCD patients (control group), the prevalence percentages were as follows: (100% vs. 100%), (100% vs. 56.3%), (0% vs. 31.3%), (31.9% vs. 18.8%), (40.4% vs. 25%), (0% vs. 0%), and (0% vs. 0%). As for the antibiotic (ampicillin, penicillin, amoxicillin, cefazolin, imipenem, oxacillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and levofloxacin) resistance of the S. aureus strains isolated from the SCD patients compared with non-SCD patients (control group), the prevalence percentages were as follows: (100% vs. 100%), (97.9% vs. 100%), (72.3% vs. 25%), (68.1% vs. 37.5%), (68.1% vs. 25%), (66% vs. 25%), (36.2% vs. 18.8%), (23.4% vs. 12.5%), (19.1% vs. 12.5%), (17% vs. 12.5%), (14.9% vs. 25%), and (10.6% vs. 18.7%). This study concluded that several virulence genes were present in the S. aureus strains recovered from the SCD patients at KSUMC, with all the isolates containing the finbB, sdrC, sdrD, icaA, coa, nuc, hlg, and hla genes.
... Kuwait (82.0%), China (83.7%), and Western Algeria (60.8%) [57][58][59][60]. Notably, ampicillin and penicillin G resistance occurred at the same frequency (54.7%), similar to the results observed in bovine milk samples in China (91.4%) [61] and MSSA isolates in Trinidad and Tobago (11%) [62]. ...
Staphylococcus aureus contamination of food and food contact surfaces is a public health concern given its virulent and antimicrobial-resistant properties worldwide. In this study, a total of 181 MSSA isolates were analyzed for SE genes, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and spa types. Overall, 24.9% of isolates were positive for SE gene detection, with sea being the most prevalent classical SE (18.8%). The most predominant sample sources for SE gene contamination were hand swabs for sea (6/48), meat dishes for seb (3/14) and seafood dishes for sec (2/24). Antimicrobial resistance was also observed at relatively high frequencies for the clinically important antibiotics penicillin G and ampicillin (both 54.7%), followed by tetracycline (14.9%) and azithromycin (8.8%). In addition, characterization of spa types revealed spa type t5078 to be the most predominant (40.3%), with significant associations between spa types t127 and t5521 and the sea gene. This study offers insights into the enterotoxin gene and antimicrobial resistance profiles of S. aureus in cooked or ready-to-eat food to inform future surveillance and epidemiological studies.
... [24] The results of the polymerase chain reaction for the MRSA strains as in Figure 2, showed that through 20 isolated MRSA, 13 (65%) were affirmative only for the TSST-1 gene and 4 (20%) were positive only for PVL gene [ Figure 3], This was similar to the results of Goudarzi et al. [25] who described a prevalence of the PVL encoded gene of 21.4% within MRSA isolates in Iran. While our results were contrary to what was mentioned by Udo et al. [26] whom isolated MRSA in Kuwait's capital City restaurants from food handlers. The presence of PVL genes coincided with SST-1 in three isolates (15%), whereas 11 isolates contained only the TSST-1 gene. ...
Staphylococcus aureus resides naturally in the nasal cavity of healthy individuals, including those working in restaurants, so they may be a source for spreading this bacterium to restaurant customers directly or indirectly through cooked meals. This bacterium has several virulence factors enabling it to cause many diseases in different parts of the body. It has also the capability to resist conventional antibiotics including methicillin. To investigate methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), 170 nasal swabs were collected from food preparation workers in 30 restaurants (5-6 workers in each restaurant) in Kirkuk city. After collection, the samples were directly transferred to the laboratory and cultured on selective media like mannitol salt agar (MSA). Microbiological examination including morphological, biochemical, and confirmatory tests showed that 24/170 of collected samples were positive for S. aureus with a rate of 14.12%. Among 24 isolates, 20 (83.3%) belonged to MRSA. All isolates were resistant to oxacillin and penicillin (100%), whereas sensitive to other antibiotics (gentamicin, chloramphenicol, and rifampicin). Polymerase chain reaction exhibited that 13 (65%) of MRSA isolates have toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 gene and only 4 (20%) have Panton-Valentine leukocidin gene.
... An important bacteria associated with infection is Staphylococcus aureus, one of the important bacterial pathogens associated with Staphylococcus aureus infection, including the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which produces a wide range of well-known virulence factors, one of the most important is the Staphylococcus enterotoxin products (SEs) and Staphylococcal food poisoning responsible for toxic shock syndrome (TSST) toxin (Adwan et al., 2006;Udo et al., 2009). It is still considered one of the important diseases causing bacteremia and causing high mortality and hospitalization, Staphylococcus aureus, the bacterium blood (Cosgrove, 2005). ...
This research aimed to compare Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) for the detection of Staphylococcus aureus in food. Staphylococcus aureus is a human pathogen due to widespread infection and being methicillin-resistant causing bacteraemia and tissue infections. According to six distinct sequences of the mecA and femA in S. aureus, four specific primers that were designed to detect S. aureus using LAMP. In addition, the sensitivity of LAMP was performed and compared with PCR. The results showed that the LAMP completed the reaction within 30 mins at 65°C. LAMP is considered a promising alternative method compared to the PCR technique where LAMP can be used in laboratories and fields with limited resources.
... In a study by Udo et al. in Kuwait, samples of nasal swabs, feces, and hands of 250 restaurant employees were evaluated to detect staphylococcal enterotoxin genes. From 200 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from people working in restaurants, the frequency of sea, seb, and sec genes were reported to be 11%, 12.5%, and 23%, respectively [16]. Avila-Novoa et al. evaluated the prevalence of the toxin-encoding gene in S. aureus isolates from food contact surfaces. ...
Background
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main causes of nosocomial infections. The hospital staff as carriers of Staphylococcus aureus have an important role in spreading it among patients. This study aimed to isolate and identify the sea and nuc genes that encode enterotoxin in Staphylococcus aureus isolates, isolated from the Nasal mucosa of staff in Sari burn hospital by PCR method.
Methods
A gene nasal mucosa of sari burn hospital staff. In this cross-sectional study, a nasal swab of 40 staff of Burnt hospital of Sari was collected and isolated. The S. aureus was detected by biochemical tests such as Gram stain, catalase, and coagulase. Then nuc and sea genes were identified after the extraction of DNA, by PCR technique and gel electrophoresis with a specific primer.
Results
From the 40 strains obtained from nasal carriers, 20 S. aureus strains were isolated, and all of them included the nuc gene, while 6 samples included the sea gene. Given that every 20 samples had the nuc gene, therefore this gene is a strong marker for S. aureus. Also, the presence of sea genes in some samples suggested the presence of enterotoxin A in hospital staff as a healthy carrier.
Conclusions
PCR techniques can be used to detect the genes encoding enterotoxins in S. aureus. Given that hospital staff can be carriers of Staphylococcus aureus and spread nosocomial infections, therefore identification of the carriers to prevent the spread of infection is essential.
... Agr dysfunction in the agr locus causes changes in the expression of genes and has global effects on bacterial phenotypes including pathogenicity (10). Major virulence factors in S. aureus, exfoliative toxins (ETs), toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-1), and staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) are involved in host colonization, invasion of damaged skin and mucus, gastrointestinal infection, and prevarication of host defense mechanisms (11). ...
Background and Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes a variety of diseases. Staphylococcal biofilms are a source of chronic and continual infections. This study was conducted to estimate the distribution of agr among different isolates of S. aureus and their relationship with biofilm. Also, it was aimed to check the association of operon agr with virulence factors (seb, eta, spa and tst v8) and study the effect of biosynthesis silver nanoparticles on the function of the agr system. Materials and Methods: Out of 580 clinical specimens, 100 S. aureus isolates were isolated and identified based on cultural, morphological, and different biochemical tests, in addition to molecular identification using PCR with specific primer 16SrR-NA. For biofilm detection, the fungi synthesized silver nanoparticles were used to check its effect on agr system. Results: The biofilm producer among S. aureus was 61% and non-biofilm producer isolates were 39%. It was found that the total number of agr-bearing isolates was 31 (50.82%), with a significant difference in the distribution percentage of virulence factors genes in isolates of biofilm-forming S. aureus carried agr. The results also revealed a relationship between the agr-quorum sensing system and the prevalence of virulence genes in the isolated S. aureus. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by Agaricus compestris, and it was found that it activates the agr system in 31 (100%) of biofilm-forming and carrying operon agr after treatment with sub-MIC of AgNPs. Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that not all isolates of S. aureus have agr system. Also, it was found that AgNPs have a positive effect on bacterial virulence factors production and could be used for treatment or in cooperation with antibiotics to decrease resistance
