Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a multidrug-resistant (MDR) opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial infections. Virulence analysis and molecular typing as powerful approaches can provide relevant information on K. pneumoniae infection. In the current study, antibiotic resistance, virulence-associated genes analysis, as well as molecular typing of K. pneumoniae strains were investigated. Out of 505 clinical samples collected from hospitalized patients, 100 K. pneumoniae strains were isolated by standard microbiological methods and subjected to the phenotypic and genotyping analysis. The highest prevalence of resistance was observed against ciprofloxacin (75%), trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole (73%) and nitrofurantoin (68%). Virulence associated genes including entB, traT, ybts, magA, iucC, htrA and rmpA were found in 80%, 62%, 75%, 5%, 30%, 72% and 48%, of the isolates, respectively. The prevalence of biofilm-associated genes including mrkA, fimH, and mrkD were equally 88% for all tested isolates. Moreover, the efflux pump genes including AcrAB, TolC and mdtK were observed in 41 (41%), 33 (33%) and 26 (26%) of the strains respectively. A significant statistical association was observed between MDR strains and high expression of efflux pump and biofilm genes. The K. pneumoniae strains were differentiated into 11 different genetic patterns using the repetitive element sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) technique. High prevalence of resistance, presence of various virulence factors, high level of efflux pump, and biofilm gene expression in diverse clones of K. pneumoniae strains pose an important health issue in clinical settings.
Highlights
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a non-motile Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family (José et al 2019)
Antimicrobial susceptibility test The antibiotic susceptibility of K. pneumoniae strains was performed based on the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines (Wayne 2018)
Isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of K. pneumoniae strains A total of 100 K. pneumoniae strains were isolated from 505 clinical samples
Summary
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a non-motile Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family (José et al 2019). K. pneumoniae is considered as one of the opportunistic nosocomial pathogens, especially in Iran (Ranjbar et al 2019). This organism causes a variety of diseases such as bacteremia, pneumonia and urinary tract infection. The AcrAB efflux pump system which belongs to the Resistance Nodulation Division (RND) plays an important role in the development of K. pneumoniae MDR strains (Xu et al 2019; Naha et al 2020; Yoon et al 2020; Grimsey et al 2020). The AcrAB-TolC efflux pump has a critical role in resistance to multiple antibiotics such as quinolones, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol in MDR strains of K. pneumoniae (Shao et al 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
