DETECTION OF MECA GENE OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS ISOLATED FROM DIABETIC WOUND INFECTIONS Shoaib Medhat Refaat 1 *, Luma Yousif Mehdi 2 and Shahbaa M. Al-Khazraji 3 1,2 Health and Medical Technical College, Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Iraq. 3 Medical Technical Institute, Al-Mansour, Middle Technical University, Iraq. *e-mail : shauibmidhat@gmail.com (Received 20 July 2021, Revised 31 August 2021, Accepted 11 September 2021) ABSTRACT : S. aureus has progressed into an important pathogen of humans and is endemic in hospitals worldwide. MRSA strains carry multiple antibiotic-resistant genes. This study aim to investigate the prevalence of mecA gene among diabetic wound infection by PCR method. Out of 164 swab samples from diabetic wound infections, (48) of them were positive for S. aureus by using their identity morphological and biochemical tests ,as well as diagnosis by VITEK2 system. Also antibiotic sensitivity testing performed for all isolates by disc diffusion methods. The results showed that MecA gene was detecting in all isolates 48 (100%). Most of isolates were highly resistant to Methicillin (100%), Ampicillin (98%), Amoxicillin (98%), Cephalexin (95%), Cefotaxim (91.7%), Azithromycin (77.09%) and high sensitivity to Meropenem (85.41%). MDR has been a rising global threat in modern medicine, therefore, rapid and accurate detection of resistant isolates is a critical goal of clinical microbiology. Key words : mecA gene, S. aureus, diabetic wound infections, PCR. How to cite : Shoaib Medhat Refaat, Luma Yousif Mehdi and Shahbaa M. Al-Khazraji (2022) Detection of mecA gene of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from diabetic wound infections. Biochem. Cell. Arch. 22, 93-95. DocID: https:// connectjournals.com/03896.2022.22.93 Biochem. Cell. Arch. Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 93-95, 2022 www.connectjournals.com/bca ISSN 0972-5075 DocID: https://connectjournals.com/03896.2022.22.93 eISSN 0976-1772 INTRODUCTION Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic health problem that is prevalent among the human population, which is distinguished by the state of hyperglycemia and is classified into Type 1 & 2. DM increases the risk of infection and delays wound healing due to impairment of metabolic activity (Ezhilarasu et al, 2020). S. aureus is the most common pathogen in infections of diabetic wounds, the incidence and the prevalence have increased, which has been associated with improper antibiotic use and non-restrictive regulations controlling antibiotic abuse (Alhubail et al, 2020; Neves et al, 2019 and Viswanathan et al, 2019). Mec A gene is within range of a particular chromosome in staphylococcus – cassette chromosome (SCC mec) and methicillin resistance is conferred by mecA gene, which codes for penicillin- binding protein causing decreased binding affinity for B-lactam antibiotics, including the Penicillinase- resistant penicillin (Hussein et al, 2019). The aim of this study was to determine the presence of the mecA gene and antibiotic resistance pattern. MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples were collected from (164) patients with diabetes wound infection, for isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria by traditional methods and PCR. Isolates of Methicillin Resistance S. aureus were included in this study. Specimens were cultured on blood agar and Mannitol Salt Agar processed using the standard microbiology technique : macroscopic and microscopic examination, Gram stain, biochemical test, and Vitek-2 GP system (Hussein et al, 2019). Antibacterial Susceptibility Testing: Test was performed for all the (48) S. aureus isolates using the following antibiotics: Methicillin, Ampicillin, Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, Cefotaxime, Azithromycin, Meropenem by using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion as recommended by the CLIS guidelines (2017). Moreover, Mueller – Hinton Agar (Oxoid) was used for antibiotic sensitivity testing (CLSI, 2017). Molecular analyses : DNA was “extracted from broth samples by employment of Genomic DNA”