Antibiotic resistance and adhesion properties of oral <it>Enterococci </it>associated to dental caries

• Main Authors: Bakhrouf Amina, Hentati Hajer, Mahdouani Kacem, Zmantar Tarek, Kouidhi Bochra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2011-06-01
• Series: BMC Microbiology
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/11/155

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Enterococci </it>are increasingly associated with opportunistic infections in Humans but the role of the oral cavity as a reservoir for this species is unclear. This study aimed to explore the carriage rate of Enterococci in the oral cavity of Tunisian children and their antimicrobial susceptibility to a broad range of antibiotics together with their adherence ability to abiotic and biotic surfaces.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, 17 <it>E. faecalis </it>(27.5%) and 4 <it>E. faecium </it>(6.5%) were detected. The identified strains showed resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Among the 17 isolated <it>E. faecalis</it>, 12 strains (71%) were slime producers and 5 strains were non-producers. Among the 4 <it>E. faecium</it>, 2 strains were slime producers. All the tested strains were able to adhere to at least one of the two tested cell lines. Our result showed that 11 <it>E. faecalis </it>and 2 <it>E. faecium </it>strains adhered strongly to Hep-2 as well as to A549 cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Drugs resistance and strong biofilm production abilities together with a high phenotypic adhesion to host cells are important equipment in <it>E. faecalis </it>and <it>E. faecium </it>which lead to their oral cavity colonization and focal infections.</p>