The Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Baghdad discussed the master’s thesis of the student Hanan Dawood Salman Salem, entitled:
“The Relationship Between Antibiotic Resistance and Gene Expression of the Efflux Pump AdeABC in Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Burn Patients”,
supervised by Professor Wathiq Abbas Al-Draghi.
The study aimed to isolate, identify, and classify A. baumannii strains from burn infections, assess their antibiotic resistance profiles, and investigate the role of efflux pump genes (oprD, AdeR, AdeS) in multidrug resistance (MDR).
The study found that 10% of the isolates were identified as A. baumannii.
Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed high resistance to carbapenems, aminoglycosides, and fluoroquinolones. Real-time PCR revealed a significant increase in the expression of AdeR and AdeS genes in multidrug-resistant strains, highlighting their crucial role in resistance mechanisms. Colistin and tigecycline remained the most effective antibiotics.
The study recommended the urgent need for effective infection control and the prudent use of antibiotics to combat the spread of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii. It also emphasized that targeting efflux pump mechanisms represents a promising therapeutic approach to address this growing public health threat.
