Abstract

Background

Carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is an ongoing public health problem of global dimensions leaving very few treatment options for infected patients.

Objectives

To study the dissemination of plasmid-borne carbapenemase genes in Gram-negative bacteria from a diagnostic centre in Tamil Nadu, India.

Methods

A total of 151 non-repetitive isolates belonging to 10 genera were collected between January 2015 and December 2016 from a diagnostic centre in Tamil Nadu. The isolates included Escherichia coli (n = 57), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 45), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 10), Salmonella Typhi (n = 8), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 8), Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 7), Serratia marcescens (n = 5), Achromobacter xylosoxidans (n = 5), Proteus mirabilis (n = 5), Klebsiella oxytoca (n = 5) and Elizabethkingia meningoseptica (n = 1).

Results

Of the 151 isolates, 71% (n = 107) and 68% (n = 103) were found to be resistant to meropenem and imipenem, respectively. The most prevalent β-lactamase gene was blaNDM-1 (n = 22), followed by blaOXA-181 (n = 21), blaGES-1 (n = 11), blaOXA-51 (n = 9), blaGES-9 (n = 8), blaOXA-23 (n = 7) and blaIMP-1 (n = 3). We also observed blaOXA-23 in E. coli (n = 4), and three K. pneumoniae were positive for both, blaOXA-23 and blaOXA-51. Plasmid incompatibility (inc/rep) typing results showed that the resistance genes (n = 11) were present in the isolates carrying plasmid-types IncX, IncA/C, IncFIA-FIB and IncFIIA. The plasmid-borne resistance genes in E. coli and K. pneumoniae were transferred to susceptible E. coli AB1157.

Conclusions

This study highlights the prevalence of carbapenem resistance and the acquisition of plasmid-borne carbapenemase genes in Gram-negative bacteria isolated at this centre.

Details

Title
Dissemination of carbapenem resistance and plasmids encoding carbapenemases in Gram-negative bacteria isolated in India
Author
Manohar, Prasanth 1 ; Leptihn, Sebastian 2 ; Lopes, Bruno S 3 ; Nachimuthu, Ramesh 1 

 Antibiotic Resistance and Phage Therapy Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Bioscience and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, Tamil Nadu, India 
 Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh (ZJU-UoE) Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining, Zhejiang 314400, China and Department of Infectious Diseases, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; University of Edinburgh Medical School, Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK 
 School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Medical Microbiology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Mar 2021
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
26321823
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3170597713
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.