| Introduction: β-lactam and fluoroquinolone antibiotics are usually used for the treatment
of urinary tract infections (UTIs). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of
plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) and extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs)
in Enterobacteriaceae isolated from UTIs.
Materials and methods: Two hundred and nineteen samples of Enterobacteriaceae isolated
from UTIs were collected in the Northwest of Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was
determined by the disk diffusion method. ESBLs were detected by the double-disk test. ESBL
and PMQR-encoding genes were screened using the polymerase chain reaction.
Results: The rate of resistance to moxifloxacin, nalidixic acid, gatifloxacin, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin,
and levofloxacin in ESBL-producing isolates was 89.3%, 88%, 84%, 80%, 78.7%,
and 73.3%, respectively. PMQR-producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates were identified in 67
samples (89.1%). The most prevalent PMQR genes were aac (6′)-Ib-cr 120 (68.6%) followed
by oqxB 72 (41.1%), oqxA 59 (33.7%), qnrB 36 (20.6%), qnrS 33 (18.9%), qnrD 19 (10.9%),
qepA 13 (7.4 %), qnrA 10 (5.7%), and qnrC 9 (5.1%). There was a strong association between
PMQR genes and blaCTX-M-15 and blaTEM-116 and other ESBL genes.
Conclusion: High resistance rates were detected to quinolones among ESBL-producing isolates
from UTIs. There is a high prevalence of PMQR genes in Enterobacteriaceae in Azerbaijan and
Iran, and the most common PMQR is a |