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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2006, p. 2879-2883, Vol. 44, No. 8
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00310-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of Shigella Strains in Iran by Plasmid Profile Analysis and PCR Amplification of ipa Genes

Shohreh Farshad,1* Raheleh Sheikhi,2 Aziz Japoni,1 Ezzatollah Basiri,2 and Abdolvahab Alborzi1

Prof. Alborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 71937, Iran,1 Microbiology Department, Medicine Faculty, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran2

Received 12 February 2006/ Returned for modification 29 March 2006/ Accepted 27 April 2006

To characterize Shigella clinical strains, we studied 82 Shigella strains recovered from 719 stool samples of patients with bloody diarrhea in Shiraz, Iran, over the period from April to October 2003. Serological assay classified the Shigella isolates as follows: 61 (74.39%) Shigella sonnei isolates, 16 (19.51%) Shigella flexneri isolates, 3 (3.65%) Shigella boydii isolates, and 2 (2.43%) Shigella dysenteriae isolates. In an antibiogram test, all Shigella strains were susceptible to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and ceftriaxone. They showed high degrees of sensitivity to nalidixic acid, gentamicin, cephalothin, and amikacin. Approximately 90.24% of the Shigella isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole. The plasmid profile patterns of all strains were determined by a modified alkaline lysis method. The average number of plasmid bands for each strain was 9.5. By plasmid profile analysis we identified 56 genotypes among all isolates and 42, 14, 3, and 2 genotypes among the S. sonnei, S. flexneri, S. boydii, and S. dysenteriae strains, respectively. PCR assays showed that all isolates were positive for two virulence genes, ipaBCD and ipaH. In conclusion, these data mandate local monitoring of drug resistance and its consideration in the empirical therapy of Shigella infections. These results also demonstrate that plasmid profile analysis is more reliable than antibiotic susceptibility pattern analysis for the identification of Shigella epidemic strains isolated in Iran.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Prof. Alborzi Clinical Microbiology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Nemazi Hospital, Shiraz 71937-11351, Iran. Phone: 98 711 6262225. Fax: 98 711 6287071. E-mail: s_farshad{at}yahoo.com.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2006, p. 2879-2883, Vol. 44, No. 8
0095-1137/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00310-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Taneja, N. (2007). Changing Epidemiology of Shigellosis and Emergence of Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Shigellae in India. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 678-679 [Full Text]  


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