High prevalence of integron-mediated resistance in clinical isolates of Salmonella enterica

Salmonella enterica has become progressively resistant to antimicrobial agents worldwide as a result of genes carried on different classes of integrons. The aim of the current study was to investigate the molecular diversity of these integrons and their association with antimicrobial resistance in clinical S. enterica isolates from Tehran, Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. The presence of integrons was investigated by PCR using specific primers. Integrons were detected in 65 (47.1%) strains, with classes 1 and 2 being observed in 54 (39%) and 11 (8%) strains, respectively. Integron-positive isolates belonged to seven different S. enterica serovars, and all showed a multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotype. Our findings show that integrons are widely disseminated among S. enterica strains from Tehran. Furthermore, the results that class 1 integrons were more prevalent than class 2 in Salmonella isolates, and that a statistical association with MDR patterns was observed, suggest that they are more likely to be important in conferring a resistant phenotype to Salmonella strains.