Characterization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from stool specimens of diarrhea patients in Nantong, Jiangsu, China during 2018–2020

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading cause of acute seafood-associated gastroenteritis worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of virulence genes, biofilm formation, motor capacities and antimicrobial resistance profile of V. parahaemolyticus isolates isolated from clinical samples in Nantong during 2018–2020. Sixty-six V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from stool specimens of diarrheal patients were examined. The PCR results showed that there were two tdh+trh+ isolates, four tdh-trh- isolates and sixty tdh+trh- isolates, accounting for 3.0%, 6.1% and 90.9%, respectively. All the tdh carrying isolates manifested the positive reactions for the Kanagawa phenomenon (KP) test. Most of the isolates harbored at least one of the specific DNA markers of ‘pandemic group’ strains, suggesting that the dominant isolates of V. parahaemolyticus in Nantong might belong to the new O3: K6 or its serovariants. All tdh+ isolates possessed the Vp-PAI genes, but no tdh-trh- isolates carried the T3SS2 genes. All isolates were biofilm producers and had relatively strong motor capacities. In addition, the V. parahaemolyticus isolates were resistant to ampicillin (98.5%), cefuroxime (75.6%), cefepime (66.7%), piperacillin (59.1%) and ampicillin/sulbactam (50.0%), but sensitive to ciprofloxacin (100.0%), levofloxacin (100.0%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (98.5%), gentamicin (98.5%), amikacin (97%), meropenem (71.2%), and ceftazidime (56.1%). Multidrug-resistant isolates in clinical might be related to the inappropriate use of antimicrobials in aquaculture.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus Isolates from Asian Green Mussel: Molecular Characteristics, Virulence and Their Inhibition by Chitooligosaccharide-Tea Polyphenol Conjugates

“…V. parahaemolyticus was able to form biofilms and attached to the surfaces of seafood [ 53 ]. Sun et al [ 54 ] found that V. parahaemolyticus isolated from stool specimens of diarrhea patients exhibited biofilm formation. All clinical V. parahaemolyticus isolates were biofilm producers.…”

Development of Multienzyme Isothermal Rapid Amplification (MIRA) Combined with Lateral-Flow Dipstick (LFD) Assay to Detect Species-Specific tlh and Pathogenic trh and tdh Genes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

“…Interestingly, all oyster samples from all four States tested negative for the tdh and trh genes using the MIRA-LFD, PCR, and qPCR assays. This suggests that V. parahaemolyticus isolated from the environments may be less pathogenic compared to clinically isolated bacteria [10][11][12][13].…”

“…Interestingly, all oyster samples from all four States tested negative for the tdh and trh genes using the MIRA-LFD, PCR, and qPCR assays. This suggests that V. parahaemolyticus isolated from the environments may be less pathogenic compared to clinically isolated bacteria [10][11][12][13]. 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) B 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) C 2/6 (33.3%) 0/6 (0%) 2/6 (33.3%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) 0/6 (0%) D 3/18 (16.6%) 0/18 (0%) 3/18 (16.6%) 0/18 (0%) 0/18 (0%) 0/18 (0%) 0/18 (0%) 0/18 (0%) 0/18 (0%)…”

“…A study has revealed that clinical isolates demonstrate over 80 percent tdh positivity and less than 20 percent trh positivity [10]. Similarly, more than 90 percent of patients suffering from V. parahaemolyticus infections have shown tdh positivity [11]. However, Pathogens 2024, 13, 57 2 of 13 V. parahaemolyticus isolates from environmental sources are generally considered avirulent to humans, as only a low number of isolates showed trh or tdh positivity [10,12].…”

Effect of sublethal dose of chloramphenicol on biofilm formation and virulence in Vibrio parahaemolyticus

“…Almost all V. parahaemolyticus isolates exhibited multiple antibiotics resistances, especially to ampicillin and colistin ( Amalina et al, 2019 ; Mok et al, 2021 ; Sun et al, 2022 ; Zaafrane et al, 2022 ). Previously, two class 1 integrons, dfrA14 - bla VEB-1 - aadB and bla VEB-1 - aadB - arr2 - cmlA - bla OXA-10 - aadA1 , which are strongly associated with the resistance to multiple antibiotics such as ampicillin, ceftazidime and cefotaxime, were detected in V. parahaemolyticus ( Lei et al, 2020 ).…”