Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Review Article | OPEN ACCESS

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli in Saudi Arabia: A review of antimicrobial resistance and molecular epidemiology

Abdulaziz Alqasim

Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, PO Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia;

For correspondence:- Email: aalqasim@ksu.edu.sa

Accepted: 29 January 2020 Published: 29 February 2020

Citation: Alqasim A. Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli in Saudi Arabia: A review of antimicrobial resistance and molecular epidemiology. Trop J Pharm Res 2020; 19(2):447-453 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v19i2.30

© 2020 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) is commonly associated with causing urinary tract and bloodstream infections. Over the past two decades, the antimicrobial resistance of ExPEC has increasingly been reported [1]. Given that Saudi Arabia annually hosts mass religious events, such as Hajj, this review investigated several aspects of antimicrobial resistance of ExPEC in this country including the current prevalence of resistance and molecular epidemiology of ExPEC isolates. Generally, the overall prevalence of antibiotic resistance of ExPEC in Saudi Arabia is on increase. The current emergence of colistin resistance in ExPEC represents a major challenge to public health. Local molecular epidemiological studies have shown the dominance of E. coli sequence type 131 (E. coli ST131) over other major ExPEC STs. This is an important observation given that this clone has been associated with high multidrug resistance and extended-spectrum β-lactamases carriage. To reduce the burden of this resistance in the future, it would be crucial to avoid uncontrolled use of antibiotics in either clinical settings or animal food industry.

Keywords: Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, Antimicrobial resistance, ST131, Saudi Arabia, Colistin resistance, Extended-spectrum ^6;-lactamases