| Proteus mirabilis is a gram-negative bacterium of the Enterobacteriaceae family that mainly exists in soil,sewage and other environments.It is a multi-host pathogen,one of the most important intestinal condition pathogens after Escherichia coli which can infect a wide variety of animals,including humans,and cause disease of varying degrees.At present,the harm of Proteus mirabilis to animals such as chickens,pigs,sheep and wild animals has been reported in China,but there are few related studies on companion animals such as dogs and cats.In addition,the extensive use of antibiotics in animal clinics has led to an increase in multidrug-resistant（MDR）bacteria,which has posed a threat to public health security.The purpose of this study was to further investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance（AMR）of Proteus mirabilis in dogs and cats,and to determine the correlation between antibiotic resistance genes（ARGs）and virulence-associated genes（VAGs）in Proteus mirabilis isolates,in order to provide some reference values for pet disease prevention,clinical medication and public health safety.A total of 147 domestic dog fecal swabs,94 stray dog fecal swabs and 181 domestic cat fecal swabs were collected from 8 pet hospitals and one stray animal shelter base in Chengdu from February 2021 to May 2022.Biochemical tests and 16S r RNA isolation were used to identify Proteus mirabilis in fecal swabs,detect hemolysis,swarming motility,biofilm formation and AMR,and amplify 11 VAGs and 18 ARGs of Proteus mirabilis isolates by conventional PCR to investigate the prevalence of Proteus mirabilis and some biological characteristics.Correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between VAGs and ARGs carried by Proteus mirabilis isolates.The results showed that 41 strains of Proteus mirabilis were isolated from 147 fecal swabs of domestic dogs（27.89%）,34 strains of Proteus mirabilis were isolated from 94fecal swabs of stray dogs（36.17%）,and 6 strains of Proteus mirabilis were isolated from181 fecal swabs of domestic cats（3.31%）.All Proteus mirabilis isolates exhibit swarming motility and strong biofilm formation.In addition to tetracycline（natural resistance）,the81 strains of Proteus mirabilis had the highest antimicrobial resistance rates of cefazolin（72.84%）and imipenem（72.84%）.A total of 44 strains of MDR were included in the 81strains of Proteus mirabilis,30 strains from domestic dogs,10 strains from stray dogs,and4 strains from domestic cats.The number of MDR strains from domestic dogs was significantly higher than that from stray dogs.A total of 11 VAGs were detected in 75 strains of Proteus mirabilis,with the highest detection rates being ure C（100.00%）,Fli L（100.00%）and ire A（100.00%）,followed by zap A（98.67%）,pt A（98.67%）,hpm A（90.67%）,hpm B（90.67%）,pmf A（90.67%）,rsb A（90.67%）,mrp A（89.33%）and uca A（70.67%）.A total of10 ARGs were detected,with the highest detection rate being aac-（6’）-Ib（38.67%）,followed by qnr D（32.00%）,flo R（25.33%）,bla CTX-M（17.33%）,bla CTX-M-2（16.00%）,bla OXA-1（10.67%）,bla TEM（5.33%）,tet A（2.67%）,tet B（1.33%）and tet M（1.33%）.Compared with Proteus mirabilis isolated from stray dogs,Proteus mirabilis isolated from domestic dogs has a higher detection rate of ARGs and a lower detection rate of VAGs.There was a negative correlation between VAGs and ARGs in 75 strains of Proteus mirabilis（r<0）.In summary,this study investigated the prevalence of Proteus mirabilis in dog and cat and found that the carrier rate of Proteus mirabilis in domestic cats is very low.The detection rate of Proteus mirabilis from stray dogs was significantly higher than that from domestic dogs,and the rates of AMR,VAGs and ARGs of Proteus mirabilis isolated from two sources were significantly different.And there was a negative correlation between VAGs and ARGs,which suggested that the transmission,AMR and potential pathogenicity of Proteus mirabilis were related to the living environment of dogs.In addition,the antibiotic resistance rate and the number of MDR strains of Proteus mirabilis are increasing,which means that antibiotics need to be used more rationally in the clinical treatment of dogs and cats to minimize the emergence and spread of MDR strains to maintain public health safety. |
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