Detection of PVL gene for the presence of Leukocidin among Clinical Isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from Tertiary Care Hospital

PVL and γ-haemolysin are considered to be members of a toxin family known as synergohymenotropic toxins, as they act on cell membranes by the synergy of two proteins that form a pore. Only 2% of S. aureus isolates produce PVL, while γ-haemolysin is produced by more than 99% of S. aureus isolates. PVL is the most leukocytolytic toxin in the family, however it does not exhibits no haemolytic activity on human erythrocytes. A sum of 20 clinical isolates of S. aureus were subjected to antibiotic sensitivity pattern followed by the detection of pvl gene by PCR. We have observed increased resistance to most of the routinely used antibiotics and 10% of our isolates found to have pvl gene. As this gene is directly associated with skin and soft tissue infections by S. aureus, our two isolates may even cause such infections, although none of these strains were not obtained from cutaneous lesions.