Molecular characterization of multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates recovered from King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital at Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Rihab Lagha; Fethi Ben Abdallah; Asmaa A H ALKhammash; Nabil Amor; Mohamed M Hassan; Imed Mabrouk; Majid Alhomrani; Ahmed Gaber

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2020.12.001

Molecular characterization of multidrug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates recovered from King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital at Taif City, Saudi Arabia

J Infect Public Health. 2021 Jan;14(1):143-151. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.12.001. Epub 2021 Jan 4.

Authors

Rihab Lagha¹, Fethi Ben Abdallah², Asmaa A H ALKhammash³, Nabil Amor⁴, Mohamed M Hassan⁵, Imed Mabrouk⁶, Majid Alhomrani⁷, Ahmed Gaber⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; Unité de Recherche: Virologie, Biotechnologie et Stratégies Antivirales: UR17ES30, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Monastir, University of Monastir, Tunisia.
² Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; Unité de Recherche: Virologie, Biotechnologie et Stratégies Antivirales: UR17ES30, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Monastir, University of Monastir, Tunisia. Electronic address: fetyben@tu.edu.sa.
³ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ KSU Mammals Research Chair, Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Minufiya University, Shibin El Kom, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; Faculty of Medicine, University of Sousse, Tunisia.
⁷ Department of Clinical Laboratories Science, The Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia; Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

PMID: 33412373
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2020.12.001

Abstract

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a significant proportion of nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Genotypic variation in K. pneumoniae populations is a major barrier to control public health risk associated with pathogen. In this work, thirty K. pneumoniae were recovered from hospital and were tested for their resistance to antibiotics. Genetic variability of the isolates was performed using PCR based on genes coding for porins and efflux pumps, (GTG)₅ and BOX repetitive sequences. K. pneumoniae showed heterogenicity of resistance to antibiotics based on gender or specimen type. Further, out of 30 isolates, 25 different profiles were found and 83.33% are multidrug-resistant. PCR detection of genes coding for porins and efflux pumps revealed seven different genotypes and strong correlation between antibiotics resistance profiles and investigated genes. PCR genomic fingerprinting showed high genetic diversity of K. pneumoniae. BOX-PCR and (GTG)₅ generated 18 and 19 clusters with discriminatory indexes 0.97 and 0.98, respectively at 80% of similarity. K. pneumoniae clinical isolates showed high phenotypic and genetic variability, and many strains can be circulating simultaneously. This genetic variability should be taken into consideration when designing strategies for controlling K. pneumoniae outbreaks. In addition, a significant correlation, was detected for the first time, between (GTG)₅-genotyping and antibiotic resistance patterns of K. pneumoniae and could be valuable in the prediction of antibiotic resistance profiles of K. pneumoniae.

Keywords: (GTG)(5)-PCR; Antibiotics; BOX-PCR; Genetic diversity; K. pneumoniae; Porins and efflux pumps genes.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial / genetics
Hospitals
Humans
Klebsiella Infections* / epidemiology
Klebsiella pneumoniae* / genetics
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Saudi Arabia
beta-Lactamases

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents
beta-Lactamases