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. 2022 Mar 24;9:793615. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.793615

Table 2.

Association between biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter spp.

Sr. no Study Country Strain (numbers) Sources of isolation % of biofilm formers Observations References
Positive correlation between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance
1. Rao et al., 2008 India A. baumannii (50) Endotracheal aspirates, cerebrospinal fluid, wound swabs, urine, blood 62%-high biofilm former • Resistance to four antibiotics such as amikacin (82 vs. 17.6%, P < 0.001), cephotaxime (88 vs. 11%, P < 0.001), ciprofloxacin (70 vs. 29%, P = 0.005), and aztreonam (38 vs. 11%, P = 0.039) was comparatively higher among biofilm producers than non-biofilm producers.
blaPER−1-horbouring A. baumannii was able to form strong biofilm in comparison to the isolates that did not possess the gene.
(92)
2. Lee et al., 2008 Korea A. baumannii (23) Blood, sputum, urine 100%- biofilms former • Cell adhesiveness and biofilm formation were significantly higher in isolates carrying the blaPER−1 as compared with isolates without this gene (P < 0.005 and P < 0.001, respectively).
• RT-PCR showed a positive correlation between the level of expression of the blaPER−1 and the level of biofilm formation (P < 0.0001).
(83)
3. Pour et al., 2011 India A. baumannii (47);
A. lowffii (3)
Urine samples, urinary catheters • 12%- strong biofilm former
• 10%-low biofilms former
• High biofilm forming strains exhibited high resistance to 27 antibiotics from different groups including β-lactam group (83.3%), cephalosporin group (94.4%), aminoglycosides (97%), quinolones (75%), tetracycline (66.6%) and oxytetracycline, and imipenem (33.3%). (115)
4. Nahar et al., 2013 Bangladesh A. baumannii (32) from ICU patients
A. baumannii (20) from non-ICU patients
Tracheal aspirates, blood, central venous catheter, peripheral blood, urine, wound swab, pus, throat swab, endotracheal tubes, burn samples, ascitic fluid, sputum, aural swab, oral swab, cerebrospinal fluid, and catheter tip • 87.5%- biofilm former from ICU patients
• 55%- biofilm former from non-ICU patients
• Resistance to antibiotics such as gentamicin (100 vs. 88.9%), amikacin (85.7 vs. 55.6%), netilmicin (85.7 vs. 11.1%), ciprofloxacin (82.1 vs. 54.4%), imipenem (81.0 vs. 22.2%) and colistin (7.1 vs. 0%) was higher among biofilm forming Acinetobacter spp. isolated from ICU than non-ICU isolates. (144)
5. Emami and Eftekhar, 2015 Iran A. baumannii (30) from burn unit
A. baumannii (30) from non-burn unit
• The burn isolates were mostly from wounds, blood, urine.
• Non-burn isolates were from sputum, wound specimens, catheters, blood, cerebral spinal fluid, trachea
• 55.5%- biofilm former in non-burn isolates
• 40.5%- biofilm former in burn isolates
• Non-burn strains significantly produced more biofilm compared to the burn strains (P < 0.05).
• Biofilm-producing non-burn isolates were significantly more resistant to amikacin, meropenem, and tobramycin compared to the biofilm negative strains within the same group (P < 0.05).
• AmpC and ESBL was much higher among the non-burn isolates compared to the burn samples (33.0 vs. 3.3%, P < 0.05).
(145)
6. Thummeepak et al., 2016 Thiland A. baumannii (221) Sputum, urine, pus, blood, pleural fluid, ascetic fluid, and wound 76.9%- biofilm former • The association between biofilm forming ability and gentamicin resistance was found to be significant (P = 0.017).
• Antibiotic-resistant isolates possessed ompA (84.4%), bfmS (84%), bap (48%), blaPER−1 (30.2%) and epsA genes (30.2%). However, biofilm formation related genes ompA and bap were associated with multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains.
(139)
7. Bardbari et al., 2017 Iran A. baumannii (75) from clinical samples
A. baumannii (32) from environmental samples
• Sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, endotracheal aspiratesventilators, sink
• Area, floor, hand staff, trolleys and bedside table, pillow and linens, and other fomites
• 31.2%- strong biofilm forming clinical isolates
• 58.7%- strong biofilm forming environmental isolates
• Clinical strains showed strong biofilm production ability compared to environmental strains (58.7 vs. 31.2%).
• Significant correlation was observed between the frequency of multidrug-resistant isolates and biofilm formation ability in both clinical and environmental strains (P = 0.008).
• The study revealed the presence of blaOXA−51, blaOXA−23, blaOXA−24, blaOXA−58, and blaPER−1 among biofilm forming A. baumannii.
(94)
8. Khamari et al., 2019 India A. baumannii (14) Blood, pus, urine, pleural fluid, endotracheal tube • 100%- biofilm former
• 71.4%-strong biofilm former
blaTEM, blaOXA, blaNDM, blaVIM, blaSIM, and blaPER−1; class 1 integron were detected among the isolates. (93)
9. Yang et al., 2019 Taiwan A. baumannii (152) No data available • 45.4%- strong biofilm former
• 32.5%- moderate biofilm former
• 15.6%- weak biofilm former
• A positive correlation was observed between biofilm forming capacity and resistance to ticarcillin, amikacin, gentamicin, ceftazidime, piperacillin, imipenem, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim antibiotics (P = 0.018, 0.004, 0.003, 0.003, 0.033, 0.017, 0.007, respectively).
• The study also revealed that biofilms-related genes such as bap, blaPER, ompA, and csuE genes were found in 81, 39, 91, and 69% of the biofilm producers, respectively. The strains carrying these genes formed stronger biofilm than the isolates without these genes.
(140)
10. Ranjbar et al., 2019 Iran A. baumannii (161) Burn wood infections • 70.6%- strong biofilm former
• 12.2%- moderate biofilm former
• 17.2%- weak biofilm former
• A significant association was observed between biofilm-forming ability and XDR phenotype (P = 0.001).
• Multiple genes (blaOXA−23−like/blaOXA−40−like/blaOXA−51, blaPER−1/blaVEB−1, blaIMP, and blaVIM and tetB) were found to be responsible for detection of drug-resistance in burn patients.
(141)
11. Celik et al., 2020 Turkey A. baumannii (60) Tracheal aspirates, blood, urine, wound, sputum, CSF, abscess, bronchoalveolarlavagefluid 90%- biofilm former • In biofilm-positive strains, antibiotic resistance was significantly higher against ampicillin/sulbactam, cefoperazone-sulbactam, chloramphenicol, piperacillin/tazobactam, and ciprofloxacin (P = 0.008, 0.038, 0.017, 0.027, 0.005, respectively). (142)
12. Asaad et al., 2021 Egypt A. baumannii (161) Sputum, endotracheal aspirate, wound swab • 20.2%- strong biofilm former
• 34%- moderate biofilm former
• 16%- weak biofilm former
• Biofilm-producing isolates showed statistically significant higher resistance rate to ceftazidime, ampicillin/sulbactam, piperacillin/tazobactam, piperacillin, gentamycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, tigecycline, and imipenem (P = 0.041, < 0.001, 0.006, 0.034, 0.028, 0.002, 0.002, and 0.02, respectively).
• Presence of ompA gene (P = 0.002), bap gene (P = 0.012), MDR (P = 0.017), and XDR (P = 0.002) was significantly associated with biofilm-producing capability of the isolates, compared to non-biofilm producing capabilities.
(143)
Negative correlation between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance
1. Rodríguez-Ba no et al., 2008 Spain A. baumannii (92) No data available 63%- biofilm former • In comparison to non-biofilm forming A. baumannii, biofilm forming isolates were less frequently resistant to ciprofloxacin and imipenem (47 vs. 25%, P = 0.04; and 94 vs. 66%, P = 0.004, respectively). (146)
2. Han et al., 2014 China A. baumannii (70) No data available • 50%- strong biofilm former
• 29%- moderate biofilm former
• 21%- weak biofilm former
• Resistance to levofloxacin (85.71%, 45.00%, 38.24%, P = 0.010), cefepime (71.43%, 45.00%, 29.41%, P = 0.027), and gentamicin (78.57%, 55.00%, 38.24%, P = 0.037) significantly decreased when biofilm-forming ability was strong. (147)
3. Zhang et al., 2016 China A. baumannii (120) Sputum • 27.3%- strong biofilm former
• 54.5%- moderate biofilm former
• 18.2%- weak biofilm former
• Isolates which produced strong biofilm exhibited low-level resistance to gentamicin, minocycline, and ceftazidime (P < 0.05). (148)
4. Qi et al., 2016 China A. baumannii (268) No data available • 23%- strong biofilm former
• 74.7%- weak biofilm former
• Among the strong biofilm-formers, 79.4% were non-MDR isolates and, 20.6% were MDR/XDR ones.
• Among the weak biofilm-formers, 12.4% non-MDR and 87.6% MDR/XDR isolates.
• Strains that were negative for biofilm formation consisted of 8.7% non-MDR and 91.3% MDR/XDR isolates.
(31)
5. Krzysciak et al., 2017 Poland A. baumannii (15) Blood, central nervous system, pulmonary 80–90%- biofilm former • Strains showing sensitivity to amikacin, tobramycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and ciprofloxacin from ICU patients produced more biofilm than strains showing resistance to these antibiotics. (149)
6. Wang et al., 2018 Taiwan A. baumannii (269) Blood 26%- biofilm former • MDR isolates was significantly lower (P = 0.006) in the biofilm-forming group.
• Biofilm-forming isolates were significantly more susceptible to most commonly used antibiotics including amikacin, gentamicin, ceftazidime, cefepime, ciprofloxacin, imipenem, and meropenem (P = 0.040,0.043, 0.003, 0.009, 0.001, 0.035, 0.018, respectively).
(150)
7. Shenkutie et al., 2020 China A. baumannii (104) Sputum, blood, urine, soft tissue, hospital environments • 25%- strong biofilm former
• 14.4%- moderate biofilm former
• 20.2%- weak biofilm former
• Non-MDR strains (66.1%) showed strong biofilm formation. (151)

Studies have been arranged in chronological order.