Abstract
Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most important opportunistic enteric bacteria and is a major cause of pneumonia and urinary tract infection. In addition, the serotype capsules of K1 and K2 can cause intense diseases. Further, the acquisition of plasmid that codes the production of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) confers K. pneumoniae resistance on a number of broad-spectrum antibiotics posing a global public health problem. Accordingly, this study aimed to identify 120 K. pneumoniae isolates that were detected from infected wound samples in Isfahan hospitals in Iran.
Methods: Capsular serotypes and antibiotic resistance genes were studied in 120 isolates of K. pneumoniae from different clinical cases in Isfahan, Iran. To this end, the frequency of resistance genes at the presence of specific primers was examined and all resistant isolates were tested for the detection of capsular serotypes genes using special primers.
Results: The results demonstrated that 120 isolates had serotype K2 with the redundancy of 78% and most cases had serotype K5 with the redundancy of 63%. Based on the results, aac (3)-IV gene was observed in most isolates with the redundancy of 54.1% and tetA with the redundancy of 75.86%. In this study, the highest resistance belonged to ceftazidime (74.3%), ciprofloxacin (78.5%), and tetracycline (72). Furthermore, the results revealed that serotype K2 is one of the most important serotypes of K. pneumonia. Finally, there seems to be a strong relationship between the presence of integron and increased resistance to different antibiotics.
Conclusions: In general, this was the first extensive study regarding the distribution and antimicrobial resistant profile of K. pneumoniae and related genes. Therefore, the continued monitoring of the antimicrobial resistance establishment of a surveillance system is urgently needed to prevent further dissemination in Iran.