Transcriptomic signatures of Trichomonas vaginalis isolates that exhibit low, intermediate, and high resistance to metronidazole in vitro

Minimum lethal concentrations (MLCs) for metronidazole (MTZ), tinidazole (TDZ), and secnidazole (SEC) were determined using a drug susceptibility assay. Transcriptome profiling was performed for 15 MTZ-sensitive (MTZ-S, MLC < 50µg/mL) and 15 MTZ-resistant (MTZ-R, MLC ≥ 50µg/mL) isolates using next generation RNA-sequencing.

Bioinformatics analyses identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among MTZ-R isolates, 6 exhibited MLCs of 50µg/mL, 5 had MLCs between 100-200 µg/mL, and 4 had MLCs ≥ 400 µg/mL. The low-, intermediate-, and high-level MLC resistant isolates were compared to the MTZ-S isolates and transcriptomic profiling identified 154, 425, and 175 DEGs respectively.