Evaluation of Microbial Safety and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Peanut Paste Circulating in Bangui, Central African Republic

Abstract

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance remains a concern for the World Health Organization, a problem affecting both veterinary health and the agri-food system, with serious risks to consumers due to the global emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains. This global threat is increasingly poorly controlled in certain sectors, and despite the "One Health" approach, few developed countries have conducted studies on antibiotic resistance in bacterial strains isolated from food and veterinary products. The overall objective of this study was to investigate, using isolates obtained from samples of peanut paste sold in the city of Bangui, the genes conferring resistance to beta-lactams and quinolones. Methodology: A total of 320 samples of peanut paste sold in the eight main markets of Bangui were collected and analyzed. Fifty-one strains of Enterbacteria of medical interest were isolated and identified, and the antibiotic susceptibility of these strains was tested by the disk diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar. From these strains, resistance genes to beta-lactams (TEM, CTX-M1, and CTX-M2) and quinolones (qnrB and SHV) were investigated using conventional PCR genotyping analysis, including thermal extraction of genetic material and detection by agarose gel electrophoresis. Results: The results of this study reveal the presence of pathogens in different proportions. Citrobacter freundii 5.7%; Citrobacter koserii 4.6%; Enterobacter cloacae 10.3%; Enterobacter koserii 1.1%; Enterobacter sakazakii 4.6% Escherichia coli 29.9%; Flaviomonas Horzitiabita 4.6%; Flaviomonas luteola 1.1% Klebsiella arizonnae 1.1%; Klebsiella ornithinolytica 4.6%; Klebsiella oxytoca 3.4%Klebsiella ozaenae1.1%; Klebsiella pneumoniae 3.4%; Klebsiella spp 10.3%; Proteus mirabilis 8.0%; Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4.6%; Serratia liquefaciens 1.1%. the proportion of beta-lactam resistance genes was 69% for the TEM gene.27.6% for CTXM1, and absent for the CTXM2 gene. The observed quinolone genotypic resistance genes were qnrb at 18% and SHV at 21.5%. Conclusion: Phenotypic and genomic research on antibiotic resistance in peanut paste samples sold in the city of Bangui revealed the presence of resistance genes to beta-lactams and quinolones. The detection of these resistance genes in a food sample poses a serious problem for consumer health and therapeutic management in human medicine.