Acinetobacter baumannii, hospital opportunist

2004/01/01 Andonegi Beristain, Garazi - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Unibertsitateak
• Medikuntza

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic bacteria that causes serious hospital infections, such as pneumonia. It is opportunistic because it attacks patients with weakened health. The mortality of these infections is high, both for being affected and for being resistant to many A. baumannii antibiotics. In addition, by applying a treatment, the bacteria are able to develop their resistance to it.

In the face of this problem, it is very important to keep track of the new resistance obtained by the bacteria to know which antibiotics patients should be treated with. To carry out this study it is necessary, on the one hand, to locate and highlight the gene of the new resistance and, on the other, to know if integrones exist or not.

Integrones

Integrons are chains of resistance genes in which much of the new resistances obtained by A. baumannii are stored. The bacteria have other pathways, but the most integral is the most effective way to capture and transmit resistances.

Leioa is developing methods for the genetic separation of A. baumannia and to know its resistances. (Photo: A. Umaran).

Integrons have great mobility and travel through the chromosome of the bacterium A. baumannii. Not only that, they can also jump from one bacteria to another. This means that all the resistances obtained by an A. baumannii are easily transmitted to others and, therefore, the species is constantly renewed and becomes more resistant. In addition, as integrons have a promoter, bacteria always express or activate all these resistances.

Looking to improve control

Isolation and analysis of different types of A. baumannii in hospitals has shown that most of them have integrons. Consequently, in the coming years it is very likely that A. baumannii of hospitals will become resistant to the best antibiotics of the moment, extending this resistance to integrons. In fact, strains resistant to current antibiotics have already appeared.

Thus, mortality from infections caused by A. baumannii can increase considerably, as there will be no antibiotics that resist infection. Note that the number of patients contaminated by A. baumannia in hospitals is not high, but the problem is serious due to mortality.

Currently, UPV/EHU researchers, among others, are trying to detect these cases and find ways to follow up.

There are currently techniques to genetically separate A. baumannii strains, but now we want to know if epidemic resistances are integrated into integrons. It is about finding ways to detect early the characteristics of the resistances of these strains, as well as to standardize and make practical these methods for application in clinics.

That is, the current option is to improve control, since at the moment there are no substitutes for antibiotics. To achieve this it is necessary to detect the infection in time and know the strain of A. baumannii that has produced it. In addition, it is necessary to know the resistances of the strain causing the infection and whether it has integrons. Through this path it is intended to implement control systems and control mortality by A. baumannii.

• Title of the project
  Identification of carbapenemic resistant enzymes and diffusion of these enzymes by integrons in Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria isolated in hospitals.
• Objective
  To identify carbapenemic resistant enzymes and locate markers of their diffusion in Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria.
• Director
  Lucía Gallego Andrés.
• UPV work
  team: A. Umaran, I. Pujana, M. J. Candela, E. Sevillano, F. Hospital Santa Marina López Otxoa: F. Hospital Calvo San Eloy: G. Martin.
• Department
  of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology.
• • Faculty
  of Medicine and Dentistry (Leioa)
• •