Effects on quinolone resistance due to the biofilm formation activity inUreaplasma urealyticum

Abstract

IntroductionUreaplasma urealyticum is considered a part of the normal genital flora in human beings. It is found in about 70% of sexually active humans. It has also been associated with a number of diseases, such as nonspecific urethritis (1), infertility (2), or chorioamnionitis (3). The symptoms of U. urealyticum infection are variable in different people and bacterial strains (4). In addition, U. urealyticum has some effects on other pathogen infections in the genital tract and results in more complex mixed infections (5). Hostpathogen interactions and adapted immune responses are involved in the U. urealyticum infection processes, and these features make for variable virulence and antibiotic resistances in different populations (6).Quinolone antibiotics are used widely to deal with Ureaplasma infections. However, resistance to quinolone is an increasingly serious problem in today's clinical treatment of this pathogen (7). The most important reason for this situation is the improper uses of antibiotics. Furthermore, according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), the resistance or susceptibility of U. urealyticum is judged by the 'color change unit' . Unfortunately, the current clinical susceptibility testing programs, based on many commercial kits such as Mycoplasma IST2 kits (bioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France), cannot accurately reflect the real resistance level of Ureaplasma.In 2009, an available CLSI-compliance susceptibility testing method was reported on by Beeton et al. (8). This method made it possible to test the quantity of Ureaplasma and the actual susceptibility of the organism. In this study, we detected the biofilm formation of different Ureaplasma strains, and then observed the Ureaplasma's susceptibility prebiofilm formation and postbiofilm formation. Some functional gene expressions were evaluated to analyze whether there was a correlation between these gene expressions and biofilm formation in the pathogen.Background/aim: To detect the effects on quinolone resistance due to biofilm formation activity in Ureaplasma urealyticum.Materials and methods: An improved checkerboard dilution susceptibility test was used to analyze the quinolone resistance of clinical Ureaplasma isolates and a postbiofilm formation susceptibility assay was used to compare the effects on the quinolone susceptibility between pre-and postbiofilm formations. Several important functional gene expressions were detected to evaluate their roles in the process of the quinolone resistance mechanism. Results:The quinolone-resistant isolates produced more biofilms than the sensitive isolates. In both the quinolone-resistant and -sensitive groups, the minimal inhibitory concentrations after biofilm formation were higher than those before biofilm formation. The expression of the metabolism-related gene ureC in postbiofilm formation was higher than those in prebiofilm formation. Conclusion:It seems that biofilm formation is quite important in the generation of quinolone resistance in Ureaplasma....

Current understanding and treatment of intra‐amniotic infection with Ureaplasma spp.

“…exhibited more biofilm formation. The MIC of quinolones and expression of the metabolism‐related gene ureC also increased after biofilm formation in Ureaplasma spp …”

Unveiling the stealthy tactics: mycoplasma’s immune evasion strategies

“…Sliding mismatches in the Vsa repeat tandems can alter the size of the Vsa protein, thereby affecting the ability to form biofilms (Simmons et al, 2007). Mycoplasma strains producing short Vsa proteins (5 or less) can attach to surfaces such as glass and polystyrene to form biofilms, whereas those with long Vsa proteins tend to remain in a planktonic state (Simmons and Dybvig, 2009;Feng et al, 2015).…”

Biofilms of microorganisms and their role for the formation of resistance to anti-bacterial drugs

“…Многие исследователи приписывают каркасную функцию матрикса биопленок именно данной группе химических соединений [3,19,23]. Хотя наличие пептидогликанной оболочки не характерно для данной группы микроорганизмов, некоторые штаммы U. urealyticum способны образовывать капсулы, что может быть причиной неудач при антибактериальном лечении [22,24,25].…”

“…Долгие годы оставался малоизученным вопрос о причинах восстановления популяции микроорганизмов после полноценно проведенного курса антибиотикотерапии. Исследования показали, что в культуре бактерий сохраняется небольшая часть клеток, которые проявляют устойчивость к антибиотику, несмотря на то что вся популяция чувствительна к его действию [4,23,25]. В процессе изучения данной проблемы биологами и генетиками была выявлена субпопуляция клеток, которые впоследствии были названы персистерами.…”