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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2004, p. 2342-2343, Vol. 48, No. 6
0066-4804/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.48.6.2342-2343.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Aeromonas hydrophila with Plasmid-Borne Class A Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase TEM-24 and Three Chromosomal Class B, C, and D ß-Lactamases, Isolated from a Patient with Necrotizing Fasciitis

LETTER
We report a case of necrotizing fasciitis with probable in vivo
transfer of a TEM-24 plasmid-borne extended-spectrum ß-lactamase
(ESBL) gene from
Enterobacter aerogenes to
Aeromonas hydrophila.
The patient was an 87-year-old female with a leg lesion following
a trauma. She had a history of rheumatoid polyarthritis treated
by 10 mg of prednisone per day, refractory anemia, and chronic
venous insufficiency of the lower limbs. Within 5 days, the
infection grew worse and the initial amoxicillin-clavulanic
acid antibiotic therapy was replaced with ceftriaxone-metronidazole
(1 to 1.5 g daily). Surgical debridement revealed extensive
necrosis, and 3 days later, the lesion evolved toward typical
necrotizing fasciitis (
1,
6), leading to a second surgical intervention
for above-knee amputation followed by complete healing.
Routine bacteriological procedures revealed (i) Escherichia coli NI-202 susceptible to most ß-lactam compounds, (ii) E. aerogenes NI-203 resistant to all ß-lactam antibiotics except imipenem, (iii) A. hydrophila NI-204 resistant to ceftazidime, and (iv) A. hydrophila NI-205 susceptible to ceftazidime (Table 1). Pulsed-field electrophoresis confirmed that A. hydrophila NI-204 and NI-205 derived from a single clone. For ß-lactamase analysis, the E. aerogenes isolate was grown in brain heart infusion broth with and without cefoxitin or ceftazidime induction (10 µg/ml) at 37°C before analytical isoelectric focusing with crude sonic cell extracts on polyacrylamide gels (2, 4). Two bands of ß-lactamase activity were detected with iodine gel with cefazolin (500 µg/ml) as the substrate, which was suggestive of the production of an inducible cephalosporinase (pI 8.8) and an ESBL (pI 6.5). Aeromonas isolates were grown at 30°C with cefoxitin (10 µg/ml), imipenem (1 µg/ml), or tobramycin (1 µg/ml) induction (5). Analytical isoelectric focusing with penicillin and cefazolin as substrates revealed three bands (pI 7, 7.8, and 8.2) probably corresponding to previously described cephalosporinase-, imipenemase-, and oxacillinase-type inducible ß-lactamases (5, 11, 12). A. hydrophila NI-204 produced an additional enzyme similar to E. aerogenes NI-203 ESBL (pI 6.5).
Taking into account resistance to ceftazidime, pI determination,
and local epidemiology, the ESBL was presumed to be the plasmid-mediated
TEM-24 ßlactamase (
2-
4,
7). The plasmid was transferred
from
E. aerogenes NI-203 to
A. hydrophila NI-205 and to
E. coli C1a at a high frequency (10
4). Recipient strains (NI-206
and NI-207, Table
1) presented the same acquired resistance
pattern. After plasmid extraction and gel electrophoresis, both
wild-type strains (
E. aerogenes NI-203,
A. hydrophila NI-204)
and recipient strains (
A. hydrophila NI-206,
E. coli C1a NI-207)
showed a common 180-kb band, as previously characterized with
Enterobacteriaceae,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and recently
A. caviae (
4,
7-
9). The capacity of
Aeromonas salmonicida to maintain
either or both of the
Pseudomonas and
Enterobacteriaceae R factors
has already been observed (
10). PCR amplification with TEM family-specific
primers was applied to
E. aerogenes NI-203 and
A. hydrophila NI-204 and showed a deduced protein sequence with 100% identity
to that of TEM-24 (
3,
7).
This report demonstrates probable in vivo transfer of ESBL TEM-24 from E. aerogenes to the genus Aeromonas. It was observed in a wild-type strain of A. hydrophila simultaneously producing the class A, B, C, and D ß-lactamases.

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T. Fosse* C. Giraud-Morin I. Madinier
Laboratoire de Bactériologie Hôpital L'Archet 2 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice B.P. 3079 06202 Nice Cedex 3, France
F. Mantoux J. P. Lacour J. P. Ortonne
Service de Dermatologie Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Nice, France
|
| | | | | |
* Phone: 33 4 92 03 62 14, Fax: 33 4 92 03 59 52, E-mail: fosse{at}unice.fr |
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, June 2004, p. 2342-2343, Vol. 48, No. 6
0066-4804/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.48.6.2342-2343.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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