prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (pmqr) determinants among extended spectrum beta-lactamases (esbl)-producing isolates of escherichia coli and klebsiella pneumoniae in aleppo, syria

conclusions the most common qnr gene was qnrb, and none of the isolates carried qnra or qepa. the aac (6’)-ib-cr variant was the most prevalent pmqr gene, and it was associated with the prevalence of ciprofloxacin resistance in our esbl-producing isolates. results of the 123 isolates, 103 (83.73%) had one of the five pmqr genes, including 83 (83.83%) of the 99 e. coli strains and 20 (86.95%) of the 23 k. pneumoniae strains. materials and methods here, to evaluate the prevalence of pmqr genes at aleppo university hospitals in syria, 123 extended spectrum beta-lactamases (esbl)-producing isolates of escherichia coli and klebsiella pneumoniae from the hospitals were selected for screening based on ciprofloxacin resistance. five pmqr genes [qnra, qnrb, qnrs, aac (6’)-ib, and qepa] were screened by simplex pcr, and the aac (6’)-ib-positive pcr products were digested with btsci to detect the aac (6’)-ib-cr variant. background recently, several plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (pmqr) genes conferring low levels of quinolone resistance have been discovered. objectives the aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in a collection of esbl-producing isolates of e. coli and k. pneumonia in aleppo, syria.