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Updated: May 2, 2026

Nanomechanics of Drug-target Interactions and Antibacterial Resistance Detection
Published on: October 25, 2013
Is the mazEF toxin-antitoxin system responsible for vancomycin resistance in clinical isolates of Enterococcus
Nourkhoda Sadeghifard1, Sara Soheili1, Zamberi Sekawi1
1Department of Medical Microbiology, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia.
Abstract:
The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE) and the presence of mazEF toxin-antitoxin (TA) system, which may be useful as target for novel antimicrobial therapy concepts. The susceptibility of E. faecalis was determined by MIC, and the presence of the mazEF TA system was evaluated by PCR. Among 200 E. faecalis isolates 39.5% showed resistance to vancomycin (VRE), while 60.5% were susceptible strains (VSE). The mazEF TA system was positive in all VRE isolates (100%), but less prevalent (38/121, 31.4%) among the 121 VSE strains. In conclusion, our study demonstrated a positive relationship between the presence of vancomycin resistance and mazEF TA system. This observation may introduce therapeutic options against a novel antimicrobial target in enterococci.
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