Open Microbiology Journal最新文献

{"title":"Laser Optofluidics in Fighting Multiple Drug Resistance.","authors":"Thodoris D Karapantsios","doi":"10.2174/1874285801812010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801812010008","url":null,"abstract":"The book combines fields which experience increasing interest in recent years: optofluidics, microfluidics and fighting multiple drug resistance (MDR) seen as part of infectious diseases domain. The reported results are of interest for life sciences, environment quality control and biomedical basic and applied research. Biomedical specialists, chemists, physicists, public health experts and even outer space researchers may be among target readers, as well as students engaged in these fields. The book shows a convincing and useful connection between optofluidics and MDR studies. It is distributed along 18 chapters written by 40 authors from 9 countries and 12 laboratories. A set of chapters informs readers about selected non-antibiotic medicines which are exposed to UV pulsed laser beams for generating photoproducts with enhanced properties in fighting MDR. Such parent compounds are phenothiazines, quinazolines and hydantoin derivatives which do not have normally significant effects on bacteria or tumour tissues, but after being exposed to laser radiation in water (chosen as a biocompatible liquid) solutions, generate photoproducts with individual or synergistic effects on biological targets. The book shows the most recent results in the action of exposed chlorpromazine and thioridazine on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and their enhanced antibacterial and antibiofilm activities. Complementary data about the effects of two cytostatics, methotrexate and 5-Fluorouracil, exposed to optical radiation on eye pseudotumours are synthesised; showing that mixtures of photoproducts generated from them have higher antiinflammatory effects then their parent compounds. These data are correlated with reports about microfluidic properties for microdroplets serving as vehicles for the transport of medicines to targets.","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5842377/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35915525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Molecular Characterization of Multidrug Resistant Uropathogenic <i>E. Coli</i> Isolates from Jordanian Patients.","authors":"Yacoub R Nairoukh,&nbsp;Azmi M Mahafzah,&nbsp;Amal Irshaid,&nbsp;Asem A Shehabi","doi":"10.2174/1874285801812010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801812010001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Emergence of multi-drug resistant uropathogenic <i>E. coli</i> strains is an increasing problem to empirical treatment of urinary tract infections in many countries. This study investigated the magnitude of this problem in Jordan.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 262 <i>E. coli</i> isolates were recovered from urine samples of Jordanian patients which were suspected to have urinary tract infections (UTIs). All isolates were primarily identified by routine biochemical tests and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disc diffusion method. Fifty representative Multidrug Resistance (MDR) <i>E. coli</i> isolates to 3 or more antibiotic classes were tested for the presence of resistance genes of <i>blaCTX-M-</i> 1, 9 and 15, carbapenemase (<i>blaIMP, blaVIM, blaNDM-1, blaOXA-48</i>), fluoroquinolones mutated genes (<i>parC and gyrA</i>) and clone of ST131 type using PCR methods.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 150/262 (57.3%) of <i>E. coli</i> isolates were MDR. Urine samples of hospitalized patients showed significantly more MDR isolates than outpatients. Fifty representative MDR <i>E. coli</i> isolates indicated the following molecular characteristics: All were positive for mutated <i>parC</i> gene and <i>gyrA</i> and for ST131 clone, and 78% were positive for genes of <i>CTX-M-15</i>, 76% for <i>CTX-M-I</i> and for 8% <i>CTX-M-9</i>, respectively. Additionally, all 50 MDR <i>E. coli</i> isolates were negative for carbapenemase genes (<i>blaIMP, blaVIM, blaNDM-1, blaOXA-48</i>), except of one isolate was positive for <i>blaKPC-2 .</i></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study indicates alarming high rates recovery of MDR uropathogenic <i>E. coli</i> from Jordanian patients associated with high rates of positive ST131 clone, fluoroquinolone resistant and important types of blaCTX-M.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2174/1874285801812010001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35842623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"<i>In vitro</i> Antibacterial Activity and Phytochemical Analysis of <i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> L. Extracted in Different Organic Solvents.","authors":"Gemechu Ameya,&nbsp;Aseer Manilal,&nbsp;Behailu Merdekios","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010352","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Controlling infectious disease using medicinal plants is the oldest healthcare known to mankind. Regardless of the enormous advances observed in modern medicine, medicinal plants are still playing vital roles. However, only a small proportion of medicinal plants are examined for bioactive compounds which may vary in different factors. This study aimed to evaluate phytochemical constituent and antimicrobial activities of <i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> L. extracted by different solvents against three set of bacteria.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong><i>Nicotiana tabacum</i> L. was collected from the Western Ethiopia and extracted in seven organic solvents. An <i>in-vitro</i> anti-bacterial activity of plant extracts was carried out by agar well diffusion assay against microbial type culture collection of human pathogens, clinical bacterial isolates, and biofilm forming bacteria. Gas Chromatographic and Mass Spectroscopic (GC-MS) analysis was used to determine the phytochemical constituents.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Antimicrobial activities of plant extract vary by extraction solvents; and ethyl acetate based extracts showed better antimicrobial activities. Of the experimental organisms, biofilm forming uropathogens were the most sensitive while clinical isolates were quite resistant. Analysis of the active ethyl acetate extract by GC-MS evinced a mixture of five volatile compounds; and Pyridine, 3-(1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinyl)-, (S) was the major compound detected. The overall results of the present study revealed that <i>N. tabacum</i> L extract has high antimicrobial activities against biofilm forming uropathogens.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>High antimicrobial activity was observed in ethyl acetate extract of <i>N. tabacum</i> against the biofilm forming bacteria whereas the clinically isolated bacteria were the most resistant group. The antibacterial property demonstrated could be due to Pyridine, 3-(1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinyl)-(S) with a broad spectrum of activity.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2174/1874285801711010352","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35792889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antimicrobial Activity of <i>Bacillus Persicus</i> 24-DSM Isolated from Dead Sea Mud.","authors":"Nehaya Al-Karablieh","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010372","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010372","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Intorduction: </strong>Dead Sea is a hypersaline lake with 34% salinity, gains its name due to the absence of any living macroscopic creatures. Despite the extreme hypersaline environment, it is a unique ecosystem for various halophilic microorganisms adapted to this environment.</p><p><strong>Aims & objectives: </strong>Halophilic microorganisms are known for various potential biotechnological applications, the purpose of the current research is isolation and screening of halophilic bacteria from Dead Sea mud for potential antimicrobial applications.</p><p><strong>Methods & materials: </strong>Screening for antagonistic bacteria was conducted by bacterial isolation from Dead Sea mud samples and agar plate antagonistic assay. The potential antagonistic isolates were subjected to biochemical characterization and identification by 16S-rRNA sequencing. Among the collected isolates, four isolates showed potential antagonistic activity against <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> 6633 and <i>Escherichia coli</i> 8739. The most active isolate (24-DSM) was subjected for antagonistic activity and minimal inhibitory concentration against different gram positive and negative bacterial strains after cultivation in different salt concentration media. Results: The results of 16S-rRNA analysis revealed that 24-DSM is very closely related to <i>Bacillus persicus</i> strain B48, which was isolated from hypersaline lake in Iran.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Therefore, the isolate 24-DSM is assigned as a new strain of <i>B. persicusi</i> isolated from the Dead Sea mud. <i>B. persicusi</i> 24-DSM showed higher antimicrobial activity, when it was cultivated with saline medium, against all tested bacterial strains, where the most sensitive bacterial strain was <i>Corynebacterium diphtheria</i> 51696.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5759096/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35792891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Identification of Bacteria in the Sputum of a Cystic Fibrosis patient; A Comparison of Phenotypic and Molecular Methods.","authors":"Mubarak Alfaresi,&nbsp;Bassam Mahboub","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010384","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Cystic fibrosis (CF), caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator gene, is a common autosomal recessive disease. Accurate isolation and identification of the bacteria underlying these infections are is critical to the therapeutic management of CF.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To compare phenotypic bacterial identification with a molecular method in a CF patient sputum.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Bacterial identification done by standard microbiological method from a CF patient. Same sample underwent a molecular method involving 16S rDNA amplification, cloning, and sequencing.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>All isolated bacteria from culture were also found after cloning PCR Product. Conversely, 9 pathogenic bacterial species were only detected after PCR and cloning.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study supports prior suggestions that a sequence-based molecular approach to clinical microbiology can significantly enhance the standard clinical culture-based view.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2174/1874285801711010384","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35792892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Epidemiology of <i>Clostridium Difficile</i> Infection in a Large Hospital in Northern Italy: Questioning the Ward-Based Transmission.","authors":"Gabriella Piatti,&nbsp;Marco Bruzzone,&nbsp;Vincenzo Fontana,&nbsp;Alessandro Mannini,&nbsp;Marcello Ceppi","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010360","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010360","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong><i>Clostridium Difficile</i> infection (CDI) is considered a ward-based nosocomial infection, due to contagion among patients. Molecular studies recently questioned ward-based contact for disease spread.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To investigate whether it is plausible that CDI spread in San Martino Hospital of Genoa was due to a ward-based contact and patient-to-patient diffusion.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective cohort study of CDI cases from April 2010 to March 2015. We referred to Hospital data set and Admission Service. Multilevel modelling approach and ecological analysis were used to assess <i>C. difficile</i> infection risk according to wards and time of occurrence. Six representative CD strains were ribotyped to assess a possible equivalence.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The assessment of 514 CDI cases showed that the risk of disease and rate of incidence in wards were independent, while frequency of cases and number of wards involved exhibited a positive relationship, excluding the typical epidemic pattern of contagious diffusion, <i>i.e</i>., many cases in few wards. The extra-binomial variability due to ward clustering was not significant, indicating homogeneity in the probability of CDI occurrence across all wards. Three hundred sixty-eight patients changed ward, without showing connection between the frequency of cases in new wards and incidence among new subjects. Trigonometric components described a significant contribution of seasonality, with excess of CDI cases during the winter months. Molecular analysis showed different ribotypes of CD strains from the same ward.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>From our results it seems unlikely that in our institution CDI occurrence is due to ward-based contact and inter-human contagion of the organism.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5759130/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35792890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trends in the Genetic Background of Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus Aureus</i> Clinical Isolates in a South African Hospital: An Institutional-Based Observational Study.","authors":"John F Antiabong,&nbsp;Marleen M Kock,&nbsp;Tsidiso G Maphanga,&nbsp;Adeola M Salawu,&nbsp;Nontombi M Mbelle,&nbsp;Marthie M Ehlers","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010339","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study sought to understand the epidemio-ecological dynamics of MRSA isolates associated with a South African hospital over a period spanning year 2007-8 (a previous study reported in 2009) and year 2010-11 (this study).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>One hundred and ninety three isolates were characterised by molecular fingerprinting methods including pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), <i>spa</i> typing, <i>agr</i>-typing, SCC<i>mec</i>-typing, and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). The Vitek-2 automated antibiogram of representative isolates was also performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our data shows that the distribution of MRSA strains among the different clinical conditions was rarely dependent on the genetic backbone or genotype. Compared to the previous survey in 2009, CA-MRSA isolates increased by 31% while HA-MRSA isolates decreased by 17%. An increase in genetic diversity was also revealed including the detection of three pandemic clonal complexes (<i>spa</i> type t012-ST36/CC30, <i>spa</i> type t037-ST239/CC8, <i>spa</i> type t891-ST22/CC22 and <i>spa</i> type t1257-ST612/CC8). Majority of the genotypes were classified as Spa Cluster B-SCC<i>mec</i> I-<i>agr</i> I 19.2%; (37/193) Spa Cluster A-SCC<i>mercury</i>-<i>agr</i> I 14.5%; (28/193).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study reveals that increased diversity in MRSA genetic background was associated with resistance to frontline antibiotics. Also, an increase was recorded in the CA-MRSA/HA-MRSA ratio within a 5-year period despite the continuous dominance of the HA-MRSA genotype.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5737024/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35699453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Live Attenuated Reassortant Vaccines Based on A/Leningrad/134/17/57 Master Donor Virus Against H5 Avian Influenza.","authors":"Irina Kiseleva,&nbsp;Natalie Larionova,&nbsp;Larisa Rudenko","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010316","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010316","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The H5N1 avian influenza was first recognized in humans in Hong Kong 20 years ago. Current enzootic spread of highly pathogenic H5N1 virus among wild and domestic poultry and a number of severe human respiratory diseases caused by this pathogen have stimulated necessity of development of potentially pandemic influenza vaccines.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>In the past few years, significant research was conducted on how to prevent H5N1 influenza. Live, attenuated cold-adapted reassortant influenza vaccine (LAIV) is considered as one of the most promising candidates for pandemic and prepandemic vaccines. LAIV has proven to be safe and efficacious; pandemic LAIV might be more effective than inactivated vaccine in providing broader immune response.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This review covers development of LAIVs against potential avian \"pandemic\" H5N1 subtype based on cold-adapted A/Leningrad/134/17/57 (H2N2) master donor virus backbone, and their preclinical and clinical studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5737031/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35699994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DNA Microarray for Rapid Detection and Identification of Food and Water Borne Bacteria: From Dry to Wet Lab.","authors":"Reza Ranjbar,&nbsp;Payam Behzadi,&nbsp;Ali Najafi,&nbsp;Raheleh Roudi","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010330","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A rapid, accurate, flexible and reliable diagnostic method may significantly decrease the costs of diagnosis and treatment. Designing an appropriate microarray chip reduces noises and probable biases in the final result.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this study was to design and construct a DNA Microarray Chip for a rapid detection and identification of 10 important bacterial agents.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>In the present survey, 10 unique genomic regions relating to 10 pathogenic bacterial agents including <i>Escherichia coli (E.coli), Shigella boydii, Sh.dysenteriae, Sh.flexneri, Sh.sonnei, Salmonella typhi, S.typhimurium, Brucella sp., Legionella pneumophila,</i> and <i>Vibrio cholera</i> were selected for designing specific long oligo microarray probes. For this reason, the in-silico operations including utilization of the NCBI RefSeq database, Servers of PanSeq and Gview, AlleleID 7.7 and Oligo Analyzer 3.1 was done. On the other hand, the <i><i>in-vitro</i></i> part of the study comprised stages of robotic microarray chip probe spotting, bacterial DNAs extraction and DNA labeling, hybridization and microarray chip scanning. In wet lab section, different tools and apparatus such as Nexterion® Slide E, Qarray^mini spotter, NimbleGen kit, TrayMix^TM S4, and Innoscan 710 were used.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A DNA microarray chip including 10 long oligo microarray probes was designed and constructed for detection and identification of 10 pathogenic bacteria.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The DNA microarray chip was capable to identify all 10 bacterial agents tested simultaneously. The presence of a professional bioinformatician as a probe designer is needed to design appropriate multifunctional microarray probes to increase the accuracy of the outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2174/1874285801711010330","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35699452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bacteriology and Antibiogram of Urinary Tract Infection Among Female Patients in a Tertiary Health Facility in South Eastern Nigeria.","authors":"Angus N Oli,&nbsp;Vivian B Akabueze,&nbsp;Chijioke E Ezeudu,&nbsp;George U Eleje,&nbsp;Obiora S Ejiofor,&nbsp;Ifeanyichukwu U Ezebialu,&nbsp;Charlotte B Oguejiofor,&nbsp;Ifeoma M Ekejindu,&nbsp;George O Emechebe,&nbsp;Kenneth N Okeke","doi":"10.2174/1874285801711010292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874285801711010292","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common contagion among men and women with the incidence relatively higher among women due to their differing anatomy. An understanding of the kind of pathogens implicated in urinary tract infections as well as antibiotic susceptibility profiling may help the clinician make rationally correct empirical choice in their treatment.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study is aimed at determining the type and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial uropathogens isolated from female patients attending Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka, Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Two hundred and forty patients with clinically diagnosed UTI and who were on at least 5 days' antibiotic holiday were recruited into the study. Their demographic characteristics were captured using pre-tested questionnaire. Their clean catch mid-stream urine samples were collected using sterile universal container and sent to the Microbiology Department for processing. Within 30 minutes of samples collection, the specimens were cultured and the isolates were identified, after 24 h of incubation, using standard microbiological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were done with standard antibiotic discs using the Kirby-bauer disc diffusion method.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of the 240 urine samples, 89.17% yielded significant bacteriuria. The pathogens implicated were <i>Escherichia coli</i> (28.5%), <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (28.0%), <i>Salmonella</i> spp (22.8%) and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (20.5%). HIV status, patients age, pregnancy status and marital status all significantly affected bacteriuria rate (p value < 0.05), while patients' location (sub-urban/rural dwelling), and level of education did not (p value > 0.05). The pattern of microbial resistance to antibiotics suggests that ceftazidime, fosfomycin and cefoxitin may not be used as first-line agents in the empirical treatment of UTIs rather; levofloxacin, meropenem or aztreonam should be considered. Levofloxacin was significantly effective against all the isolates and may be administered empirically while waiting for the culture result (Mean % susceptibility was 79.85).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong><i>E. coli</i> and <i>S. aureus</i> were the predominant pathogens in the study and many were resistant to the commonly prescribed antibiotics and so leave the clinicians with only few alternative drugs for UTIs treatment. Routine surveillance and monitoring studies need to be constantly conducted to update clinicians on the prevalent pathogens and the rational and empirical treatment of UTIs. Aggressive and consistent health education using every possible media is also recommended to combat the menace of drug resistance occasioned by inappropriate antibiotic use.</p>","PeriodicalId":38953,"journal":{"name":"Open Microbiology Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2174/1874285801711010292","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35221919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}