Introduction: The rapid spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a serious public health problem. Resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes are not only limited to the clinical environment but are increasingly widespread among bacterial populations in the natural environment. Surface waters, particularly lakes and rivers, represent a particular concern due to their potential role in the preservation and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance from the environment to human or animal pathogens. Purpose: We aimed to determine the antibiotic resistance and the presence of nucleotide sequences for individual types of ß-lactamases in strains of Escherichia coli, isolated from surface waters. Methods: In Escherichia coli strains that presumably produced extended-spectrum ß-lactamases, we wanted to determine their resistance to selected ß-lactam, aminoglycoside and tetracycline antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. We used combined disc method and disc approximation test to phenotypically determine the presence of ESßLs, carbapenemases and ß-lactamases AmpC in Escherichia coli strains. For genotypical determination of those enzymes in Escherichia coli strains, we used a polymerase chain reaction. Results: From the 192 tested Escherichia coli strains, 89 (46,35 %) grew on the ESßL selective medium. Of these 89 strains, predicted to produce extended-spectrum ß-lactamases, 73 % were resistant to at least one of the 11 tested antibiotics. The highest resistance rates were observed against kanamycin (41,57 %), amoxicillin with clavulanic acid (29,21 %), and cefotaxime (16,85 %). Using the combined disc method, we found the presence of ß-lactamases in only some Escherichia coli strains, while the polymerase chain reaction proved the presence of ESßLs in 93,26 %, carbapenemases in 65,17 % and ß-lactamases AmpC in 34,83 % of the strains of Escherichia coli. We did not find a significant correlation between the presence of virulence factor genes and antibiotic resistance genes. Discussion and conclusion: We demonstrated that Podpeško lake and Rakiško lake represent important reservoirs of antibiotic resistant strains of Escherichia coli harboring nucleotide sequences for ESßLs, carbapenemases and ß-lactamases AmpC. Many potentially pathogenic strains carry antibiotic resistance genes, which pose not only a potential risk to human health upon exposure, but also contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the environment, leading to increasing challenges in the treatment of bacterial infections.
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