Association of bacteria in diabetic and non-diabetic foot infection - An investigation in patients from Bangladesh

The microbial community on a host relies on its immune status and pathophysiological condition. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder associated with a 25% increased risk of developing foot infection. The pathophysiological differences between diabetic foot infection (DFI) and non-DFI patients may alter the microbial composition in infections. The present study aims to comparatively analyze the microbes colonized in DH and non-DH patients in Bangladesh. Pus specimens were collected from 67 DFI and 12 non-DFI patients to investigate the bacteria associated with foot infection. For this investigation, an array of microbiological, molecular biological and immunological approaches were performed. Common bacteria detected in both DFI/non-DFI samples were Pseudomonas spp. (22/29%), Bacillus spp. (12/3%), Enterobacter spp. (22/7%), Staphylococcus spp. (13/13%) and Acinetobacter spp. (10/10%). Enterococcus spp. (9%) and Klebsiella spp. (8%) occurred only in DFI patients, whereas Citrobacter spp. (29%) was only detected in non-DFI samples. The rate of occurrence of three organisms, namely, Enterococcus spp. vertical bar Z vertical bar = 2.2125, Klebsiella spp. vertical bar Z vertical bar = 1.732, Bacillus spp. vertical bar Z vertical bar = 1.9034, were also statistically significant. Most of the isolates from DH patients were commonly resistant to the cephalosporin (Ceftazidime, Ceftriazone, Cefurozime) and monobactam (Aztreonam) groups of antibiotics. DFI patients had comparatively higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels than non-DFI patients, and a positive correlation was observed between multi-antibiotic resistance and CRP levels (one of the markers of chronic subclinical inflammation). The present investigation implicated a complex association of the bacterial population in DFI compared with non-DFI with different antimicrobial resistance properties, which was linked with CRP levels. (C) 2015 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited. All rights reserved.