It was aimed to find out the genetic relationship in between multipl antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli strains isolated as nosocomial agents from uriners of patients with spinal cord injury by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-PCR (RAPD) and the practicability of this method. The strains identified by convantional methods were performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing for 17 kinds of antibiotic. 32 of 61 (52.4 %) strains were resistant to more than one antibiotic. Those of 32 strains were genotyped by RAPD method. Dendrogram of the strains has been performed on SPSS 10.0 program by using the band patterns and genetic relationship of them was determined. While having six strains in the most extensive group and three groups with only one strains, E.coli strain were described in 12 groups. As regard to genetic differences it was concluded that E.coli strains were not originated from sole source and RAPD was an easy and rapid method for epidemiological researches.
Keywords: Spinal Cord Injury, RAPD, Escherichia coli
