Prevalence of exoT Gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Various Clinical Samples: A Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P.aeruginosa) is one of the most frequently co-infecting bacteria reported. Development of drug resistance, biofilm formation, cell associated factors make the P.aeruginosa more virulent. Type III secretion system controls expression of genes. P.aeruginosa chromosome harbours exoT, exoS, exoU, and exoY virulent genes. Gene exoT plays an important role in causation of infection. The identification of virulent markers of pathogens for identification of acute and chronic infections at early stage remains a critical area and still need large research. Aim: To study the prevalence of exoT gene encoding exotoxin T in P.aeruginosa from clinical samples. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional research was conducted during January 2015 to March 2016 at the Department of Microbiology in Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India. Various clinical samples were processed using standard laboratory methods. The statistical analysis was done by using Chi-square test. Strains of P.aeruginosa isolated from various clinical samples were identified using standard laboratory methods, and exoT gene was detected by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis technique. Results: Out of 30 strains of P. aeruginosa, 20 (66.67%) were isolated from male and 10 (33.33%) from female patients. Most of them belonged to the age group 41-60 years (46.67%). The exoT gene occurred in 20/30 (66.67%) isolates of P.aeruginosa, while 10/30 (33.33 %) showed negative amplification results. Out of 20 exoT genes in P.aeruginosa, 17/20 (85%) were detected from male and 3/10 (15%) from female patients. Conclusion: Gene exoT of P. aeruginosa plays the crucial role in causation of disease. It is concluded that exoT gene can be a notable virulent element expressed by 66.67% of P.aeruginosa clinical isolates. The proven role of exoT virulence gene in the pathogenicity of P.aeruginosa would help in understanding the prognosis of Pseudomonas infection and designing an effective treatment and vaccine against the Pseudomonas infections to prevent them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]