Molecular characterization of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in Moscow from 2015 to 2018

The aim of this study was to assess which Mycoplasma pneumoniae genotypes were present in Moscow during the years 2015-2018 and whether the proportion between detected genotypes changed over time. We were also interested in the presence of macrolide resistance (MR)Mycoplasma pneumoniae. We performed multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) analysis (MLVA), SNP typing, and mutation typing in the 23S rRNA gene from 117 M. pneumoniae clinical isolates. Our analysis suggests two major MLVA types: 4572 and 3562. In 2017-2018, MLVA type 4572 gradually became predominant. In general, the SNP type range is the same as described earlier for European countries. The analysis of MR mutations showed that 7% of the isolates had an A2063G mutation in the 23S rRNA gene with no isolates carrying an A2064G mutation. In 2017-2018, MLVA type 4572 (SNP type 1) begins to spread in Moscow, which was widespread globally, especially in Asian countries. SNP typing of our sample showed higher discriminatory power than MLVA typing.