Integron-mediated antibiotic multiresistance in Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates from Spain

Objective. To determine whether non-epidemiologically related, antibiotic-resistant isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii from different geographical origins posses common type 1 integrons. Methods. The epidemiologic relationships between seven A. baumannii strains recovered from different Spanish hospitals were established by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, the presence of integrons being determined by PCR and DNA sequencing. Results. Integron analysis showed the presence of four different integrons, containing six different known genes (aacC1, aacA4, aadA1, aadB, oxa21 and oxa37) plus an ORF. It was found that the same integron was present in different unrelated strains and that related strains could have different integrons. Conclusion. These results show the potential risk of integron dissemination among different strains of A. baumannii.