Genetic Insights on Meropenem Resistance Concerning Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Isolates

Abstract

The transferable genetic elements are associated with the dissemination of virulence determinants amongst <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>. Thus, we assessed the correlated antimicrobial resistance in carbapenem-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> clinical isolates. Each isolate's ability to biosynthesize biofilm, carbapenemase, and extended-spectrum β-lactamase were examined. Genotypically, the biofilm-, outer membrane porin-, and some plasmid-correlated antimicrobial resistance genes were screened. About 50% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant while 98.4% were extended-spectrum β-lactamase producers and 89.3% were carbapenem-resistant. Unfortunately, 93.1% of the multidrug-resistant isolates produced different biofilm levels. Additionally, <i>fim</i>D and <i>mrk</i>D genes encoding adhesins were detected in 100% and 55.2% of the tested isolates, respectively. Also, the <i>bla</i>_KPC, <i>bla</i>_OXA-48-like, and <i>bla</i>_NDM-encoding carbapenemases were observed in 16.1%, 53.6%, and 55.4% of the tested isolates, respectively. Moreover, the <i>bla</i>_SHV and <i>bla</i>_CTX-M extended-spectrum β-lactamase-associated genes were detected at 95.2% and 61.3%, respectively. Furthermore, <i>aac(3)IIa</i>, <i>qnr</i>B, and <i>tet</i>B resistance-correlated genes were observed in 38.1%, 46%, and 7.9% of the tested isolates, respectively. Certainly, the tested antimicrobial resistance-encoding genes were concurrently observed in 3.2% of the tested isolates. These findings confirmed the elevated prevalence of various antimicrobial resistance-associated genes in <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>. The concurrent transferring of plasmid-encoding antimicrobial resistance-related genes could be associated with the possible acquisition of multidrug-resistant <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> phenotypes.