Pseudomonas aeruginosa can colonize the body when wounds disrupt the skin barrier, compromising immune status, and expressing virulence factors that aid its establishment in the host. Honey is highly medicinal and capable of promoting healing in infected wounds that defy conventional antibiotic therapy. This study assessed the antibacterial activities of honey against multi-drug resistant virulent P. aeruginosa isolates recovered from wounds. Sixty-one P. aeruginosa isolates were recovered, and their virulence factors were determined using phenotypic screening methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was evaluated with the Kirby-Bauer disc-diffusion method, while the antibacterial activities of honey were determined by agar-well and disc-diffusion techniques. The components of the honey samples were evaluated using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). All isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) with 100% resistance to ticarcillin, tigecycline, and nitrofurantoin; the highest susceptibility to piperacillin, meropenem, and imipenem at 4.9%, 6.6%, and 9.8% respectively; and Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Indices (MARI) of ≥ 0.2. All isolates produced hemolysin but none produced DNase. All the sixty-one isolates extruded multiple virulence factors via phenotypic screening and 96.7% possessed ≥ 50% of virulence determinants analyzed. GC-MS analyses revealed three variants of honey. The isolates exhibited resistance to the honey samples; the most effective honey sample types being H5 and H6. Possession of multiple virulence factors, multi-resistance to antibiotics, and to honey, which is well acclaimed for its wound healing characteristics by isolates raises the probability of invasion to deeper tissues and development of complications, underscoring the necessity to prevent contamination of wounds, a significant cause of morbidity and mortality.

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa employs a varied number o f virulence determinants, predominantly porins, type III secretion system (T3SS), alkaline protease and pigments to manipulate the host to establish infections. These factors contribute significantly to virulence in P. aeruginosa and are worrisome. This study is aimed at identifying the virulence genes in P. aeruginosa isolates from wound swabs of patients at two tertiary hospitals in Osun State, Nigeria. Methods: Altogether , 237 participants consisting of 133 fr o m State Hospital, Osogbo and 104 from General Hospital, Iwo with different types of wounds were enrolled. Swabs from the various wound types were collected, grown on cetrimide agar, and recovered isolates identified using conventional biochemical tests. Chromosomal DNA was extracted by thermal lysis and subjected to polymerase chain reaction using specific primers to affirm biochemical identification and detect the presence of ExoT, ExoS, ExoU, ExoY, oprI, aprA, and pvdA genes. Results: Sixty-one (25.7%) P. aeruginosa isolates were recovered in the study. Based on the different wound types, the highest recovery was from surgical sites of caesarian sections (CS) (37.7%; 23/61) followed by trauma sustained from motorcycle and automobile accidents (36.1%; 22/61) and others wound types (26.2%; 16/71). Fifty-nine of the 61 recovered isolates were successfully amplified by PCR primers that targets P. aeruginosa parugin gene. Of these 59 PCR confirmed P. aeruginosa, the oprI gene was detected in 74.6% (n = 44/59) of isolates ; 18 from Osogbo and 26 from Iwo. No bands were detected for the other genes in all 59 isolates analysed. Conclusion: The prevalence of P. aeruginosa w as highest from surgical sites of caesarian sections, with the rates from Iwo higher than that from Osogbo. Detection of oprL gene in 74.6% of strains is significant as it’s interaction with the peptidoglycan plays a part in the maintenance of the structural integrity of the cell, and may cause infections that impair wound healing.

Background: Of all enterococci species, the most renowned clinically as multidrug-resistant pathogens are Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) species are the principal cause of opportunistic hospital-acquired infections, due to numerous resistance mechanisms. Methods: In this study, the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles of VRE according to clinical sources from three selected hospitals in Southwest-Nigeria were investigated. Altogether, 431 samples (urine, rectal, and wound swabs - caesarian section (CS), automobile accidents, and other skin lesions and abrasions) were collected from three selected hospitals in Osun State, Nigeria. Established techniques were employed for the recovery of enterococci and screening for VRE while antibiotic susceptibility tests were carried out by disc diffusion technique. Results: Altogether, 208 (48.3%) enterococci strains were recovered from which 85 (40.9%) were VRE. E. faecium predominated at 71.8% (61/85) and E. faecalis at 28.2% (24/85) as determined by phenotypic characterization. VRE isolates exhibited 100%, 97.6%, and 92.9% resistance to ampicillin, clindamycin, and quinupristin-dalfopristin (Q/D) respectively. The least resistance in-vitro was to tigecycline (27.1%). None of the antibiotics exhibited 100% activity against all the isolates. vanA resistant phenotype was prevalent at 65.9%. E. faecium from all study locations displayed higher levels of resistance than E. faecalis. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices in all VRE isolates were ≥0.2, all being multidrug-resistant. Conclusions: The high prevalence rate along with the high level of multidrug resistance observed in the present study is worrisome and poses a continuous threat in the therapy of illnesses triggered by VRE as vancomycin was perceived as a drug of choice to curb enterococcal infections.

Background: The virulence factors of enterococci play a major role in the pathogenicity of enterococcal strains. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate virulence factors and detect selected virulence and resistance genes in vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) from clinical samples from southwest Nigeria. Methods: The VRE isolates (n = 85) recovered from clinical samples were characterized using conventional microbiology techniques, and molecular identification was made with ddlE primers. Phenotypic screening for five virulence determinants and detection of virulence and resistance genes using a polymerase chain reaction were carried out. Results: Phenotypic identification revealed 61 Enterococcus faecium and 24 Enterococcus faecalis. All the isolates hydrolyzed bile. Moreover, 88.2% of the isolates produced biofilm; however, 72.9% of the isolates produced gelatinase enzyme. Altogether, six isolates (7%) produced all five virulence factors. The least virulence factor expressed by the two species E. faecium and E. faecalis was DNase at 21.3% and 29.2% followed by cytolysin at 27.9% and 41.7%, respectively. Only 25 isolates (29.4%), including 23 E. faecium (37.7%) and only 2 (8.3%) E. faecalis isolates, revealed bands with molecular identification. Additionally, VRE isolates showed bands for asa1 (16%); only 1 (4%) isolate had the hyl gene and vanB gene, respectively. Conclusions: The absence of vanA and low detection of vanB resistance genes suggest the possible presence of other van types and emphasizes the need for further investigations on the incidence of other van genes using molecular screening methods in enterococci isolates in Nigeria for surveillance purposes. Moreover, the low occurrence of virulence genes implies that there might be other mediators of pathogenicity involved in Enterococcus virulence traits.