Molecular characterization of clinical multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates

Abstract

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a frequent nosocomial pathogen, with the multidrug-resistant (MDR) K. pneumoniae being a major public health concern, frequently causing difficult-to-treat infections worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular characterization of clinical MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates.

Methods: A total of 27 non-duplicate MDR K. pneumoniae isolates with a CTX-CIP-AK resistance pattern were investigated for the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance genes including extended spectrum β-lactamase genes (ESBLs), plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes, 16S rRNA methylase (16S-RMTase) genes, and integrons by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and DNA sequencing. Plasmid replicons were typed by PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT). Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were carried out to characterize the strain relatedness.

Results: All the isolates co-harbored 3 or more resistance determinants. OqxAB, CTX-M-type ESBLs and RmtB were the most frequent determinants, distributed among 19 (70.4%),18 (66.7%) and 8 (29.6%) strains. Fourteen isolates harbored class 1 integrons, with orfD-aacA4 being the most frequent gene cassette array. Class 3 integrons were less frequently identified and contained the gene cassette array of blaGES-1-blaOXA-10-aac(6')-Ib. IncFII replicon was most commonly found in this collection. One cluster was observed with ≥80% similarity among profiles obtained by PFGE, and one sequence type (ST) by MLST, namely ST11, was observed in the cluster.

Conclusion: K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing ST11 was the main clone detected. Of particular concern was the high prevalence of multiple resistance determinants, classs I integrons and IncFII plasmid replicon among these MDR strains, which provide advantages for the rapid development of MDR strains.

Figure 1

Dendrogram based on pulse-field gel electrophoresis developed in BioNumerics for 27 clinically multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Ss, specimens; Int, integron; STs, sequence types; RTs, resistance determinants; RRs, plasmid replicons.