Prevalence and Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of Extended-Spectrum ß-Lactamase and Metallo-ß-Lactamase-Producing Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Isolates

Healthcare professionals worldwide have expressed concern over infections by extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) and metallo-ß-lactamase (MBL)-producing bacteria. We evaluated the prevalence of ESBL- and MBL-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from community-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs) and their antibiotic-resistance profiles at 3 private laboratories in Tehran, Iran. E. coli isolates were mostly susceptible to meropenem (90.4%) and imipenem (90.0%), followed by amikacin (89.0%) and gentamicin (84.7%). Moreover, we detected that, of the E. coli isolates, 67 (22.3%) were ESBL producers and 21 (7.0%) of E. coli isolates were MBL positive via the imipenem-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) combined disc test. This report is the first, to our knowledge, on the prevalence of MBL-producing uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strains in Iran. The antibiotic resistance of E. coli isolates revealed that 122 (40.7%) were multidrug resistant. The high number of antibiotic-resistant and ß-lactamase-producing UPEC strains necessitates further attention and consideration, particularly MBL-producing strains.