Antibiotic Resistance Conferred by Class 1 Integron in Vibrio Cholerae Strains: A Meta-analysis

Class 1 integron is the most ubiquitous platform among antibiotic resistance bacterial populations, including Vibrio cholerae strains. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the antibiotic resistance conferred by class 1 integron conserved segments (CS); 3'-qacEΔ1 and sul1, and 5'-int1 in V. cholerae strains.

An intensive literature search of electronic databases for relevant studies from their starting dates up to April 2019 was conducted by two independent investigators. The electronic databases included; PubMed, Ovid Medline and Google Scholar databases. Only studies that determined antibiotic resistance conferred by class 1 integron in V. cholerae strains isolated from clinical and/or environmental samples using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay were included in this study.

The random-effects model was selected and performed for all the studies included in this meta-analysis. Fourteen studies consisting of both qacEΔ1 and sul1, and int1 in the class 1 integron of V. cholerae strains were included. The proportions of class 1 integron 3'-CS and 5'-CS were 70.4 % (95%CI: 37.5-94.4) and 52 % (95% CI: 6.3-95.7) respectively.

The proportions of class 1 integron in V. cholerae strains significantly contributed to the antibiotic resistances, which are comparable to other gram-negative bacteria clinical isolates. Moreover, the 3'-CS qacEΔ1 and sul1 are highly involved in the antibiotic resistance in comparison to 5'-CS int1. Generally, the study findings provide a general view on antibiotic resistance conferred by class 1 integron in Vibrio cholerae strains.