Antibiotic Susceptibility and Detection of Antibiotic Resistant Genes In Saprophytic Leptospira

• Main Author: Tan Mei, Wen
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2018
• Subjects: QR Microbiology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35112/3/TAN%20MEI%20fulltext.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35112/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease which is caused by the pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. There are limited studies to determine the effectiveness of antibiotics against Leptospira spp. in several developing countries. The main aim of this study is to determine the antibiotics susceptibilities and detect antibiotic resistant genes in saprophytic Leptospira. A total of three strains of saprophytic Leptospira were used in this study. Six antimicrobial agents such as doxycycline, ampicillin, cefotaxime, streptomycin, erythromycin and ciprofloxacin were used in antibiotic susceptibility testing. Minimal Inhibitory Concentration was determined by the value of optical density at 420 nm. Ampicillin and streptomycin showed higher MIC of 200-400 μg/ml and 400-800 . tg/ml. Doxycycline, cefotaxime and ciprofloxacin were effective against tested isolates that could be used for treatment of leptospirosis. Polymerase Chain Reaction was carried out to detect the antibiotics resistant genes such as tet(B) and blaTEM-1. Both tet(B) and blaTEM-I genes of expected sizes of 659 bp and 1190 bp were not detected from any selected strains. This indicated the two antibiotic resistant genes were not present in the selected strains and the antibiotic resistance is not conferred by this two genes. The results obtained from the study could be used as a future reference for the selection of antibiotics and assist the medical practitioner in the treatment of leptospirosis.