| Summary: | This work aimed to study <i>penA</i> gene polymorphisms in clinical isolates of <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i> collected in Russia in 2018–2019 and the contribution of the <i>penA</i> allele type to susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics. A total of 182 isolates were analyzed. <i>penA</i> allele types were determined by sequencing, and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of benzylpenicillin and ceftriaxone were measured. The influence of genetic factors on MICs was evaluated by regression analysis. All isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone, and 40.1% of isolates were susceptible to penicillin. Eleven <i>penA</i> allele types were identified. The mosaic type XXXIV <i>penA</i> allele and the Gly120Lys substitution in PorB made the greatest contributions to increasing the ceftriaxone MIC; the presence of the <i>bla</i><sub>TEM</sub> plasmid, Gly120Asp, Ala121Gly/Asn substitutions in PorB, and the adenine deletion in the promoter region of the <i>mtrR</i> gene caused an increase in the penicillin MIC. Among 61 NG-MAST types identified, the most frequent were types 228, 807, 9486, 1993, and 6226. A link between <i>penA</i> alleles and <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i> multi-antigen sequence typing (NG-MAST) types was established. Resistance to two groups of β-lactam antibiotics was associated with non-identical changes in <i>penA</i> alleles. To prevent the emergence of ceftriaxone resistance in Russia, NG-MAST genotyping must be supplemented with <i>penA</i> allele analysis.
|
|---|
