Molecular Typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Isolates by Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

Aim. Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most important causes of nosocomial infections, including pneumonia, sepsis, and urinary tract infection. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) technique is a quick, reliable, and cost-effective method for molecular typing of Enterobacteriaceae family members. This study aimed to detect genetic relatedness among K. pneumoniae isolates from hospitals in Hamadan city, using ERIC-PCR technique. Materials and Methods. A total of 72 K. pneumoniae isolates were collected from patients admitted to Besat and Sina hospitals. After detection and confirmation of K. pneumonia isolates by chemical and conventional microbiological methods, DNAs were extracted after 24 hours of incubation at 37°C, using the boiling method. ERIC-PCR technique was carried out, and the ERIC patterns were analyzed by online data analysis service (inslico.ehu.es). ERIC profiles were compared using Dice method and clustered by UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) program. Also, the samples were evaluated by PCR method for the detection of aerobactin gene within their genome. Finding. The genetic relatedness among K. pneumoniae isolates was studied, and results established the genetic diversity of the clinical isolates by detecting 25 different ERIC types, including 14 common types and 11 unique types. Also, none of the isolates had aerobactin gene. Discussion. The results of this study showed high genetic diversity among K. pneumoniae strains, indicating the polyclonal distribution of K. pneumoniae isolates in Hamadan hospitals. This diversity causes problems for the treatment of infections due to the circulation of diverse K. pneumoniae clones, which possibly have different antimicrobial susceptibility patterns.

Emergence of Colistin and Carbapenem Resistance in Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from Chickens and Humans in Egypt

“…These may originate from a common ancestral strain, demonstrating cross-transmission between chickens and humans. A recent study in Iran showed immense genetic diversity among K. pneumoniae isolates from hospitalized patients [ 69 ]. Moreover, another Indian study demonstrated heterogeneous K. pneumoniae human isolates while using ERIC-PCR, suggesting the involvement of multiple subtypes in infection [ 70 ].…”

Genetic Diversity, Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern, and Biofilm Formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolated from Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

“…The high diversity of K. pneumoniae isolates in the present study is an important finding because more than 70% of these isolates are MDR and can use mechanisms such as horizontal gene transfer to transfer this resistance to the bacteria which induce healthcare-associated infections. Different clones may have different antimicrobial resistance patterns and thereby can cause more difficulties in the treatment of their associated infections [22]. Given the significant role of antimicrobial resistance in the management of VAP, the high prevalence of resistant strains can complicate the conditions of patients with COVID-19.…”

“…Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on ERIC (ERIC-PCR) has successfully been used for the genotyping, strain diversity assessment, population analysis, and epidemiological assessments of different microbial pathogens and determining their taxonomy and phylogenetic relatedness [21]. Compared with other typing methods such as ribotyping, Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis, and Multilocus Sequence Typing, ERIC-PCR is considered as a faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective technique for the molecular typing and the genetic diversity assessment of the Enterobacteriaceae family [22].…”

Antimicrobial Resistance and Genotype Characteristics of Vibrio scophthalmi Isolated from Diseased Mariculture Fish Intestines With Typical Inter-Annual Variability

“…Antimicrobial resistance is an important concern in the public health systems that due to the rise in the resistant strains of bacteria (Nouri et al, 2020). And the enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequences polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) is a simple, fast, and affordable PCR-based methods for molecular typing analysis of different isolated bacteria, which were less dependent on effective and variable factors on bacterial growth (Sedighi et al, 2020).…”