摘要：Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive member of human gastrointestinal flora that is in recent years emerging as an important cause of endodontic infections. In this study, we have investigated the occurrence of virulence determinants and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of E. faecalis isolates, originating from root canals of apical periodontitis. Among 52 E. faecalis isolates, 32 (61.5%) isolates produced hemolysin on blood agar while all (100%) isolates showed hemolysin production on BHI-GA ((BHI medium supplemented with 1% glucose and 0.03% L-arginine), 18 (34.6%) produced gelatinase, 38 (73%) produced caseinase, no hemagglutination was observed in E. faecalis isolates, whereas all 52 (100%) resistant to serum and formed biofilm. Antibiotic susceptibility results showed that all (100%) E. faecalis isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and vancomycin. Whereas, 32 (61.5%) E. faecalis isolates were resistant to chloramphenicol, 30 (57.6%) isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 39 (75%) isolates were resistant to erythromycin, and 34 (65.3%) isolates were resistant to tetracycline. Multi-drug resistance was observed in 16 (30.7%) isolates of E. faecalis to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and tetracycline antibiotics. These findings demonstrate the presence of putative virulence determinants in E. faecalis isolates originating from root canal and suggest amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, and vancomycin as more effective than other antibiotics tested.
