Resistance to carbapenems in sequence type 11 Klebsiella pneumoniae is related to DHA-1 and loss of OmpK35 and/or OmpK36 This study investigated the molecular mechanisms of carbapenem resistance in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae from Korea and the clinical outcomes of resistant K. pneumoniae infection. Sixteen K. pneumoniae isolates showing resistance to carbapenems collected from a tertiary-care hospital were examined for the mechanisms of carbapenem resistance. PCR and sequencing experiments detected the bla DHA-1 AmpC b-lactamase gene in all 16 clinical isolates, whilst the bla genes of extended-spectrum b-lactamases were detected in 12 of 16 isolates. SDS-PAGE experiments indicated that all the isolates lacked the 35 kDa and/or 36 kDa outer-membrane proteins (OMPs). Sequence analysis of the corresponding OMP genes revealed various alterations. PFGE analysis demonstrated that there were no major clonal relationships among the K. pneumoniae isolates. However, multilocus sequence typing experiments showed that all isolates shared the same sequence type (ST), ST11, except for one isolate of ST48. The crude mortality rate of infected patients was 81.8 %. Carbapenem resistance was mainly due to a combination of DHA-1 AmpC b-lactamase coupled with the loss of OmpK35 and/or OmpK36 and was associated with poor clinical outcome.
INTRODUCTIONCarbapenems are widely used and are often the only therapeutic option for treating serious infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae that produces extended-spectrum b-lactamases (ESBLs) and/or AmpC b-lactamases. The recent emergence of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae in various countries is therefore worrying, as antimicrobial treatment options are limited.Carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae has been ascribed mainly to enzymic degradation by plasmid-borne carbapenemases of classes A (GES-2, -4, -5 and -6, and KPC enzymes), B (IMP-1 and -8, and VIM-1, -2 and -12) and D (OXA-48) (Poirel et al., 2004a;Queenan & Bush, 2007). However, some K. pneumoniae strains have acquired carbapenem resistance despite their lack of carbapenemase production. Loss of outer-membrane proteins (OMPs), including OmpK35 and OmpK36, plays a role in carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae strains harbouring ESBLs
METHODSPatients and strains. This study was conducted between 2007 and 2008 at a tertiary-care teaching hospital with 2000 beds in Seoul, Korea. During this period, K. pneumoniae was isolated from 3278 patients, 16 (0.5 %) of which had K. pneumoniae clinical isolates that exhibited resistance to carbapenems. The isolates were identified using a Vitek GNI card (bioMérieux). Clinical characteristics were investigated through electronic medical record review. Data including age, sex, underlying disease, number of days from hospital admission to identification of K. pneumoniae infection, prior antibiotic treatment, anatomical site of isolation and clinical outcome were obtained.Antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Antibiotic-containing discs (Becton Dickinson) were used for routine an...