Virulent genes related to the synthesis of community interaction factors among clinical samples of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Iran.

Introduction: Acinetobacter (A.) baumannii poses a significant threat of resistance to multiple antibiotics. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of the abaI and bap genes in clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii collected from 10 cities in Iran.

Method: Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method, and multidrug resistance was confirmed using specific criteria. The presence of abaI and bap genes was identified through conventional PCR.

Results: Of 50 samples total, 62% were from males, and 38% were from females, with most isolates originating from ICUs and obtained from the tracheobronchial tract. The abaI gene was present in 94% of samples, while the bap gene was present in 88%. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in gene frequencies and antibiotic resistance patterns.

Conclusions: The presence of abaI or bap genes was not related to antibiotic resistance. However, the frequency of these virulent genes was relatively high among multi-drug resistant A. baumannii samples. The differences in antibiotic resistance patterns of this bacterium show the need for future research in this field.