Detection and genetic characterization of β-lactamases in Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella nigrescens isolated from oral cavity infections and peritonsillar abscesses

• We report the β-lactamase production among P. intermedia and P. nigrescens.
• β-lactamase prevalence was higher in peritonsillar abscesses than subgingival plaque.
• CfxA β-lactamases were detected, which are inhibited by clavulanic acid.
• cfxA2, cfxA3, and a new one cfxA6 were identified, being cfxA2 the most frequent.
• cfxA flanking regions analysis showed the association with mobA of Tn45555.

A prospective analysis on β-lactam resistance mechanisms and β-lactamase prevalence was conducted on Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella nigrescens recovered from patients with chronic periodontitis and peritonsillar abscesses. Both phenotypic and genotypic methods were performed to characterize the β-lactamases, their coding genes and their genetic contexts. Overall, β-lactamase production was observed in 64% (16/25) P. intermedia and 23.8% (5/21) P. nigrescens (p < 0.01). Besides higher β-lactamase production rates were observed in P. intermedia (8/16) than in P. nigrescens (2/16) recovered from chronic periodontitis, almost all isolates from peritonsillar abscesses were producers (8/9 and 3/3, respectively). cfxA, but not cepA and cblA, was detected in those isolates, which were previously categorized as β-lactamase producers. CfxA producing isolates displayed higher β-lactam MICs than non-producers in both species. The most frequent allele was cfxA2, followed by cfxA3 and a new allelic variant named cfxA6. The analysis of the downstream flanking region in the three cfxA variants revealed the association with mobA of Tn4555, suggesting their localization in a mobilizable element. β-lactam resistance and cfxA carriage prevalence seems to be not only related to the bacterial species but also to the infection site.