Prevalence of yhiU, yhiV, mdfA, and marA efflux pump genes and their association with antibacterial susceptibility in clinical samples of Escherichia coli in Bangladesh

Aims Multiple efflux pumps are one of the key resistant mechanisms that expel antibiotics from Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of Bangladeshi clinical isolates of E. coli, to detect fluoroquinolone resistance-associated efflux pump genes, and to explore their relationship.Materials and methods Forty clinical isolates of E. coli were collected from a tertiary hospital in Bangladesh. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the disc diffusion method, and efflux pump genes were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.Results Amoxicillin (97.5%), tetracycline (87.5%), and ciprofloxacin (80%) were found to be the least effective antibiotics. Overall, 39 isolates (97.5%) were identified as multidrug resistant. The prevalence of efflux pump genes was as follows: yhiU (100%), marA (95%), mdfA (87.5%), and yhiV (75%). Among MDR isolates, all four genes were observed in 64.1% of cases, three genes in 28.2%, and two genes in 7.7%. Of the 32 ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates, the combination of all four efflux genes (mdfA + marA + yhiU + yhiV) was detected in 59.38% of strains.Conclusion Multiple efflux pumps present in E. coli may have played a pivotal role in developing resistance against several antibiotics.