Plasmid and Restriction Endonuclease Analyses of Bacteria Associated with Pneumonia in HIV/AIDS Patients in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Bacterial infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in individuals with the human immunodeficiency virus. The emergence of multiple-drug resistant bacteria has been documented by many researches. This study was therefore carried out to determine whether the resistances of bacterial isolates from HIV positive and HIV negative patients are plasmid mediated or chromosomal mediated. The Plasmid, Post Plasmid-curing Sensitivity and Restriction enzymes endonuclease were done using standard methods. The result of plasmid analysis showed that Plasmid-mediated resistance was observed in both populations and the molecular weight of the plasmid DNA was 1000 base pairs. Plasmid mediated resistance was common, and this was observed in all isolates from HIV/AIDS patients with exceptions of P. aeruginosa in which the resistance was chromosomally mediated. Restriction endonuclease analysis from E. coli revealed 3 distinct clusters. The result of restriction enzymes analysis indicate that the pneumonia infection in HIV/AIDS patients is likely to be hospital acquired in the study location. The study also suggests a common source of infection of the patients.