rdxA gene is an unlikely marker for metronidazole resistance in the Asian Helicobacter pylori isolates

Abstract

Mutations in the rdxA gene had been reported to be associated with metronidazole resistance in Helicobacter pylori. In this study, sensitivity to metronidazole, RAPD profiles, and DNA sequences of the rdxA gene of 32 local H. pylori isolates were analyzed. Of these, 13 were found to be resistant, while 19 were sensitive to metronidazole. Among the 32 isolates, 10 were paired isolates from the antrum and body of the stomach of individual patients. Interestingly, the RAPD profiles of isolates from individual patients were distinctly different from each other, whereas paired isolates from the same patient were identical regardless of their sensitivities to metronidazole. DNA sequences of the rdxA gene of all 32 isolates showed 95% to 97% homology when compared with the HP0954 locus of H. pylori 26695 genome. From the 19 metronidazole-sensitive strains, 10 (with MIC≤ 0.5 μg/ml metronidazole) were selected and induced to become metronidazole resistant by sequentially passaging through serial 2-fold increasing concentrations of metronidazole. Nine of the 10 induced paired isolates showed mutations in the rdxA sequences which resulted in truncated protein or changes in the translated amino acid sequences. However, the changes did not occur at any specific site in the DNA or amino acid sequences of the rdxA gene of all the isolates analyzed. The results show that the rdxA gene cannot be a definitive marker for metronidazole resistance in H. pylori isolates of an Asian population, and that other factors may contribute to resistance to metronidazole.