Panton-Valentine leukocidin in community and hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus strains

• Published in: Biotechnology, biotechnological equipment Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 1089 - 1094
• Main Authors: Özekinci, Tuncer, Dal, Tuba, Yanık, Keramettin, Özcan, Nida, Can, Şükran, Tekin, Alicem, Yıldırım, Halil İbrahim, Kandemir, İdris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 02-11-2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Blood culture; Drug resistance; Genes; Infections; Leukocidin; Medical Biotechnology; Methicillin; MRSA; MSSA; Panton-Valentine leukocidin; Pathogens; Polymerase chain reaction; Pore formation; Skin; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus infections; Toxins; Virulence; Virulence factors; MSSA; Panton-Valentine leukocidin; Staphylococcus aureus; MRSA
• ISSN: 1310-2818; 1314-3530
• DOI: 10.1080/13102818.2014.976457

Staphylococcus aureus causes serious hospital-acquired (HA) and community-acquired (CA) infections. Skin and soft-tissue infections especially are sometimes caused by strains harbouring Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL). PVL belongs to a family of bi-component leukocidal toxins produced by staphylococci. It is a pore-forming toxin encoded by lukF-PV and lukS-PV. A total of 70 S. aureus strains: 38 (54%) methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and 32 (46%) methicillin-susceptible (MSSA), were isolated from patients admitted to Dicle University Hospital (Turkey). Identification of S. aureus and antibiotics-susceptibility testing were performed with PHOENIX 100. PVL genes and mecA genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Of the 70 studied strains, 36 ones (51%) were community acquired and 34 ones (49%) were hospital acquired . A total of 38 (54%) strains were positive for mecA (mecA
+
), of which 32 ones (84%) were HA. Of the mecA
−
strains, 30 (94%) were CA. Of the 70 studied strains, 12 (17%) strains were PVL
+
: 8 (22%) of the 36 CA strains and 4 (12%) of the 34 HA strains. Of the 12 PVL
+
strains, 4 strains were mecA
+
. The PVL positivity rate was 25% in MSSA, whereas 10.5% in MRSA. Of the overall PVL
+
strains, seven strains were obtained from wounds; four ones from skin abscess; and one from blood culture. Taken together, the obtained results showed a substantial level of PVL genes in the studied region. Although PVL is known as a common virulence factor of CA MRSA, HA MRSA isolates in our study showed a considerable rate of PVL positivity.