Iranian Scientists Produce Kit for Detection of Multidrug Resistance of Bacteria

“The product can be manufactured in 30 minutes at a low cost without any need to complicated equipment,” Somayyeh Tirbakhsh Goran, a Ph.D. student in genetics at Islamic Azad University’s Shahr-e Kord branch, told ANA.

She noted that the death rate due to antibiotic resistance in the world has estimated to be 700,000 people annually, adding, “Antibiotic resistance of bacteria leads to defects in the treatment process of many common and dangerous diseases and disruption in surgeries and chemotherapy and transplant of organs.”

Tirbakhsh Goran said that there are different methods, including phenotypic confirmation test, double disk synergism test, 3D test, E test and PCR test, for detection of antibiotic resistance, adding that these methods have some disadvantages, including low sensitivity, high cost, and time-consuming nature.

“The loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a unique diagnostic method that works in isothermal conditions by using only one enzyme and 4 special primers,” she stated.

Noting that the LAMP technique was used to detect bacteria’s drug resistance in the design and production of the bacteria’s multidrug resistance (MDR) detection kit, Tirbakhsh Goran said, “Increased speed and accuracy of detecting bacteria’s drug resistance by using this kit will lead to the improvement of infection control management and reduction of the harmful effects caused by antibiotic resistance.”

Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow. Resistant infections can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to treat.

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