Molecular insights of β-lactams resistance inKlebsiella pneumoniaeisolates with focus on multidrug resistance and virulence from colonization samples

Abstract

AbstractKlebsiella pneumoniaeis associated with high resistance to antimicrobials and is common in isolates from colonization and nosocomial infections. The study aims to detect resistance genes belonging to theblafamily and investigate metabolic pathways inK. pneumoniaeisolates. Genes from the subfamilies included:blaSHV, blaTEM, blaNDM, blaKPC, blaGES, blaCTX-Mand relevant variants of theblaOXAsub-family. Mass spectrometry data were acquired on the Orbitrap IDX spectrometer (Thermo) connected to the Vanquish UPLC system. Isolates from 122K. pneumoniaesamples were collected from 04/23/2019 to 05/29/2021. A high prevalence of resistance to penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems was found among the isolates. The identified genotypic profile showed a high prevalence of genes belonging to Ambler’s classes of beta-lactamases A, B and D. In the metabolomic study, the N-fructosyl isoleucine metabolite was identified increased in multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains ofK pneumoniaecompared to strains susceptible to antimicrobials. In conclusion, the assays developed were efficient in detecting the main genes of theblafamily of resistance inK. pneumoniae. The use of the pentose phosphate metabolic pathway suggests the regulation of bacterial growth, virulence, and colonization in MDRK. pneumoniaestrains.