Background: In the 1990s, azithromycin became the drug of choice for many infectious diseases but emerging resistance to the drug has only been reported in the last decade. In the last 5 years, the National Neisseria gonorrhoeae Reference Laboratory of Hungary (NNGRLH) has also observed an increased number of N. gonorrhoeae strains resistant to azithromycin. The aim of this study was to determine the most frequent sequence types (ST) of N. gonorrhoeae related to elevated levels of azithromycin MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration). Previously and currently isolated azithromycin-resistant strains have been investigated for the existence of molecular relationship.

Methods: Maldi-Tof technic was applied for the identification of the strains isolated from outpatients attending the reference laboratory. Testing antibiotic susceptibility of azithromycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, tetracycline, spectinomycin and ciprofloxacin was carried out for all the identified strains, using MIC strip test Liofilchem(®). N. gonorrhoeae multiantigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) was performed exclusively on azithromycin-resistant isolates. A phylogenetic tree was drawn using MEGA6 (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 6.0) Neighbour-Joining method.

Results: Out of 192 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, 30.0 % (58/192) proved resistant to azithromycin (MIC > 0.5 mg/L). Of the azithromycin-resistant isolates, ST1407, ST4995 and ST11064 were the most prevalent. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, the latter two STs are closely related.

Conclusions: In contrast to West-European countries, in our region, resistance to azithromycin has increased up to 30 % in the last 5 years, so the recommendation of the European Guideline -500 mg of ceftriaxone combined with 2 g of azithromycin as first choice therapy against N. gonorrhoeae- should be seriously considered in case of Hungary.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5029006PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12941-016-0166-9DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

neisseria gonorrhoeae
8
gonorrhoeae strains
8
strains isolated
8
reference laboratory
8
resistant azithromycin
8
azithromycin-resistant isolates
8
azithromycin
7
gonorrhoeae
6
strains
5
emerging azithromycin-resistance
4

Similar Publications

Urethritis is a common condition predominantly caused by sexually transmitted pathogens such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Mycoplasma genitalium. It is not possible to differentiate with certainty between pathogens on the basis of clinical characteristics alone. However, empirical antibiotic therapy is often initiated in clinical practice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections, there has been a demand for multiple molecular assays to rapidly and simultaneously detect not only pathogens but also drug resistance-associated mutations.

Methods: In this study, we developed a new rapid simultaneous molecular assay for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma genitalium, and M. genitalium macrolide (23S rRNA gene, A2058/A2059) and fluoroquinolone (ParC gene, S83I) drug resistance-associated mutations in approximately 35 minutes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea and Neisseria meningitidis, a leading cause of bacterial meningitis and septicemia, are closely related human-restricted pathogens that inhabit distinct primary mucosal niches. While successful vaccines against invasive meningococcal disease have been available for decades, the rapid rise in antibiotic resistance has led to an urgent need to develop an effective gonococcal vaccine. Several surface antigens are shared among these two pathogens, making cross-species protection an exciting prospect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an on-going public health problem due in part to the lack of success with efforts to develop an efficacious vaccine to prevent this sexually transmitted infection. The gonococcal transferrin binding protein B (TbpB) is an attractive candidate vaccine antigen. However, it exhibits high levels of antigenic variability, posing a significant obstacle in evoking a broadly protective immune response.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phylogenetic analyses are crucial for understanding microbial evolution and infectious disease transmission. Bacterial phylogenies are often inferred from SNP alignments, with SNPs as the fundamental signal within these data. SNP alignments can be reduced to a 'strict core' by removing those sites that do not have data present in every sample.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!