Abstract

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Opportunistic infections due to endogenous microorganisms have been a global problem in immune compromised Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant opportunistic pathogen among HIV patients in both nosocomial and community settings. There is scarce information on the relatedness of S. aureus strains isolated from HIV patients in Nigeria. The goal of the present study was to determine the genetic relatedness of S. aureus isolated from HIV-positive patients from three different hospitals in Imo State, Nigeria. Fifty nine S.. aureus strains obtained from HIV.positive patients attending Heajt to Heart centres at Owerri General Hospital, Okigwe General Hospital and Awo-Omama General Hospital all in Imo State, Nigeria, and presenting symptoms of pneumonia, oral thrush, skin and urinary tract infections, were subjected to enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR analysis and protein profiling to assess their genetic variability. Distinct 12 clusters with a clone circulating in two different hospitals were obtained. The strains in few clusters represent a clone because they are 100% related and therefore could be said to be of the same origin The protein profile showed different band sizes ranging from 26.5 to 300 kDa of which few strains from the three different hospitals were related. Inherent variations among S. aureus were observed and it could be due to the selective pressure produced by antibiotics used as part the treatment regime for these patients. The methods used afforded a valuable contribution in defining inherent variations among strains which would be useful in understanding the epidemiology and in designing prevention and control measures against the infections caused by this pathogen in HIV patients.

Keywords: ERIC-PCR, protein profiles, HIV, Staphylococcus aureus.