en باکتری شناسی پزشکی Medical Bacteriology مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><b><span style="background:#1f497d"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Background and Aim:</span></span></span></b><span style="color:black"> Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in <i>Escherichia (E.) coli</i> presents challenges in its clinical management. This study aimed to quantify the prevalence and relative expression levels of <i>bax, ibpA, ibpB, and cspH</i> genes in <i>E. coli </i>isolates obtained from urine and fecal samples of patients diagnosed with urinary tract infections (UTIs).</span><span lang="EN-ID"><span style="color:black"></span></span><br> <b><span style="background:#1f497d"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Materials and Methods:</span></span></span></b><span style="color:black"> In this cross-sectional investigation, 50 <i>E. coli</i> isolates (25 urinary and 25 fecal) were collected from patients diagnosed with UTI in Sanandaj, Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Biofilm-forming capacity was quantified using microtiter plate assay. Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qPCR) was performed to determine gene expression levels of target genes. </span><br> <b><span style="background:#1f497d"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Results:</span></span></span></b><span style="color:black"> Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of urinary isolates revealed maximal sensitivity to nitrofurantoin, ofloxacin, and norfloxacin, while the highest resistance rates were observed for amoxicillin, nalidixic acid, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. In fecal isolates, the greatest sensitivity was recorded for nitrofurantoin, ofloxacin, and norfloxacin. The genomic prevalence of the <i>bax</i>, <i>ibpA, ibpB</i>, and <i>cspH</i> genes in urinary isolates was 100%. In fecal isolates, <i>ibpA</i> was ubiquitous (100%), while <i>bax, ibpB, and cspH</i> were detected in 96% of the strains. Analysis of relative expression levels showed that the expression of all 4 genes was significantly higher in urinary isolates compared to fecal isolates. No significant difference was observed in biofilm formation capacity between two groups (<i>P</i>>0.05).</span><br> <b><span style="background:#1f497d"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Conclusion:</span></span></span></b><span style="color:black"> This investigation identifies a significant differential expression of <i>bax, ibpA, ibpB, and cspH</i> genes between fecal and urinary <i>E. coli</i> isolates, whereas biofilm-forming capacity remained consistent across sources.</span></span></span></p> Antibiotic Resistance, bax, cspH, Escherichia coli, IbpA, IbpB, PCR, Urinary Tract Infection 12 21 http://ijmm.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2265-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Elham Abdi elham.abdi7ea@gmail.com 100319475328460034273 100319475328460034273 No Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Amjad Ahmadi microbiology90@gmail.com 100319475328460034274 100319475328460034274 No Health Metrics and Evaluation Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Khalil Azizaian khalilazizian@gmail.com 100319475328460034275 100319475328460034275 No Zoonoses Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Roya Talebi Aghdam royaaatalebi98@gmail.com 100319475328460034276 0009-0007-4092-5218 No Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Arezou Taherpour rezaeeit93@gmail.com 100319475328460034277 100319475328460034277 Yes Zoonoses Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran