2261 12 archive 2 disk0/00/00/22/61 2008-07-03 06:46:51 2008-07-03 06:46:51 2008-07-03 06:46:51 article show Mhd. Nasir Mohd Desa Thong, Kwai Lin thongkl@um.edu.my Parasakhti Navaratnam Universiti Putra Malaysia. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Biomedical Sciences University of Malaya. Institute of Biological Sciences University of Malaya. Faculty of Medicine. Dept. of Microbiology pub Q R none Streptococcus pneumoniae, Penicillin, Erythromycin, MIC This study was supported by the University of Malaya VoteF grant F0100/2001D. The correlation of pbp 2b restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns of fifty clinical isolates of Malaysian Streptococcus pneumoniae, as well as the distribution of determinant genes for erythromycin resistance; mefE and ermB, with the respective minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for penicillin and erythromycin (determined by agar dilution method) were examined. Strains with penicillin MIC of ≥ 0.5 μg/ml had unique pbp 2b RFLP patterns that were absent in the penicillinsusceptible strains. The prevalence of ermB, either alone or together with mefE, was frequently observed in strains with higher MIC values (> 8 μg/ml) whereas mefE alone was observed in strains with lower MIC values (1 μg/ml - 4 μg/ml). This showed that the pbp 2b RFLP patterns and the distribution of mefE and ermB genes followed certain patterns in relation to the susceptibility. This correlation may thus be used as a diagnostic criterion for molecular detection of resistance. 2005 published Malaysian Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 12 1 Malaysian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 55-57 TRUE ISSN 1511-2616 http://ejum.fsktm.um.edu.my/ArticleInformation.aspx?ArticleID=612 1. Weingarten RD, Markiewicz Z, Gilbert DN. Meningitis due to penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults. Rev Infect Dis 1990; 12: 118-124. 2. Felmingham D, Gruneberg RN, The Alexander Project Group. A multicentre collaborative study of the antimicrobial sensitivity of community acquired, lower respiratory tract pathogens 1992-1993: The Alexander Project. J Antimicrob Chemother 1996; 38: 1-57. 3. Amsden GW. Pneumococcal macrolide resistance-myth or reality? J Antimicrob Chemother 1999; 44: 1-6. 4. Desa MN, Thong KL, Yasin RM, Parasakthi N. Penicillin susceptibility and molecular characteristics of clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Int J Infect Dis 2003; 7: 190-197. 5. Smith AM, Klugman KP. Alterations in penicillin-indingprotein 2B from penicillin-resistant wild-type strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1995; 39: 859-867. 6. Beall B, Facklam RR, Jackson DM, Starling HH. Rapid screening for penicillin susceptibility of systemic pneumococcal isolates by restriction enzyme profiling of the pbp 2B gene. J Clin Microbiol 1998; 36: 2359-2362. 7. Johnston NJ, Azavedo JC, Kellner JD, Low DE. Prevalence and characterization of the mechanisms of macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin resistance in isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1998; 42: 2425-2426. 8. Luna VA, Coates P, Eady EA, Cove JH, Nguyen TH, Roberts MC. A variety of gram-positive bacteria carry mobile mef genes. J Antimicrob Chemother 1999; 44: 19-25.