Detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae antibiotic-resistant genes: An impending source of multidrug resistance dissemination through raw food

Kashaf Junaid; Hasan Ejaz; Sonia Younas; Awadh Alanazi; Humaira Yasmeen; Abdul Rehman

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.02.020

Detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae antibiotic-resistant genes: An impending source of multidrug resistance dissemination through raw food

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2022 May;29(5):3347-3353. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2022.02.020. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Authors

Kashaf Junaid¹, Hasan Ejaz¹, Sonia Younas², Awadh Alanazi¹, Humaira Yasmeen³, Abdul Rehman⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Al Jouf 72388, Saudi Arabia.
² HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
³ Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Women University Multan, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.

Abstract

This study aimed to find out the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profile of Klebsiella pneumoniae in raw food items. A total of 261 raw food items, including vegetables, fruits, meat, and milk samples, were collected and processed for isolation of K. pneumoniae. Further antimicrobial susceptibility testing and molecular analysis was done to analyze the drug resistance encoding genes. The prevalence rate of K. pneumoniae was found to be high (38%), and the raw milk samples were predominantly contaminated (19/51), followed by fruits (12/51), meat (11/51), and vegetables (9/51). However, no significant association was observed for the isolation of K. pneumoniae and any particular specimen. Among the isolates, 43% were extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers, 24% were AmpC, and 20% were carbapenemase producers. The highest rates of ESBLs and AmpC were observed in vegetables (cabbage, bell pepper, and spinach) and carbapenemases in raw chicken, fish, and raw meat samples. Notably, bla _CTX-M was the most prevalent, followed by bla _SHV and bla _TEM. Six K. pneumoniae possessed bla _MOX, and five possessed bla _FOX genes. Numerous carbapenemases were identified with a higher proportion of bla _NDM. This study indicates that raw vegetables, fruits, meat, and milk are exposed to contaminants. These findings imply a potential threat that drug-resistant K. pneumoniae pathogens could transmit to humans through raw vegetables, fruits, and meat.

Keywords: Antibacterials; CFU, Colony forming unit; Drug resistance; ESBL, Extended spectrum beta lactamases; Food contaminants; MIC, Minimum inhibitory concentration; NCBI, National center for Biotechnology Information; Raw food; β-lactamase.