Linezolid was the first agent of the oxazolidinone class to be introduced clinically. This oxazolidinone inhibits protein biosynthesis by preventing the formation of the initiation complex that consists of the mRNA, the f-Met tRNA and the 50S subunit of the ribosome. Although linezolid resistance has been mediated by the cfr-encoded product or by ribosomal proteins (L3, L4 and L22), the most common mechanism of resistance involves mutations in the central loop of domain V of the 23S rRNA gene. From March 2008 to December 2011, 38 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) strains (20 S. epidermidis, 14 S. haemolyticus, 3 S. hominis e 1 S. warneri) exhibiting resistance to linezolid were isolated from blood and catheter cultures from patients in two tertiary care hospitals in the State of São Paulo and were included in this study for the ascertainment of the resistance mechanisms to this antimicrobial agent and for the analysis of the stability of this resistance. The strains exhibited high-level resistance to linezolid (MICs 16-128 µg/ml) and all were multidrug resistant, remaining susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin. The G2576T mutation in domain V region of 23S rRNA was identified in all isolates, except in a linezolid-resistant S. haemolyticus strain. The cfr gene and mutations in ribosomal proteins L4 and L22 were not detected. Regarding L3 protein analysis, all S. epidermidis strains of hospital A, including the linezolid-susceptible control strain, showed the L3 Leu101Val mutation, suggesting that this alteration is probably not involved in linezolid resistance. The one strain from hospital B (S. epidermidis) was wild-type for this ribosomal protein. Only one S. haemolyticus strain had a mutation in the L3 protein, Val154Leu. Two S. hominis strains showed Gly139Arg/Met156Thr mutations whereas one strain had Phe147Ile in L3 protein. The identification of these mutations in L3 protein of the linezolid-resistant S. haemolyticus and S. hominis strains strengthens the role of these sites in the acquisition of linezolid resistance in Staphylococcus spp. However, the presence of G2576T in the 23S rRNA gene makes difficult to determine exactly the role of L3 mutations in conferring elevated linezolid MIC values showed by these clinical strains. In the absence of antibiotic pressure, after 130 passages, linezolid resistance was stable in the clinical strains of this study, which did not have all copies of the 23S rRNA gene mutated, according to the restriction of the domain V fragment with NheI enzyme.

Sequencing of the individual copies of the 23S rRNA gene in the serially passaged strains showed G2576T in all amplified copies by PCR:

4/4 and 5/5 in S. epidermidis and 3/3 in S. haemolyticus strains (MIC of 16-32 µg/ml). The stability of the mutant rRNA copy was also observed in the linezolid-susceptible S. epidermidis strain (MIC of 4 µg/ml). After the passages in antibiotic-free medium, the linezolid MIC of this strain fell to 1 µg/ml and the G2576T mutation persisted in one 23S rRNA gene copy. The clonal relatedness of the strains was determined by PFGE and revealed a clonal dissemination of different CNS species. Regarding MLST analysis, all S. epidermidis strains belonged to the sequence type ST2 (CC2). Most likely, the increased selective pressure has contributed to the selection of endemic linezolid-resistant CNS clones showing the G2576T mutation that have been disseminated in the institution A since 2008. Differently, the restricted use of linezolid in the institution B could explain the occurrence of a single resistant strain since 2005