Search

Purpose: To investigate the synergistic and bactericidal effects of antimicrobial combinations of any two of colistin, fosfomycin and tigecycline against the nine extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) clinical isolates, including 4 carbapenem-susceptible strains and five imipenem and/or meropenem-resistant strains., Methods: In vitro synergism and bactericidal activity of combination of colistin, fosfomycin and tigecycline were evaluated by time-kill studies in standard inoculum of bacterial densities of a suspension containing 5 × 10 5  CFU/mL by using 1/2× MIC for each alone, and both 1/2× and 1/4× MIC for any two drugs. The settings of low MIC dosing were allowed to rapidly survey the most active drug combination., Results: The most active combination group was colistin plus tigecycline, showing synergy in 8 isolates and bactericidal activities in 6 isolates by using concentrations of 1/2× MIC and 1/4× MIC, respectively. The least active combination was tigecycline plus fosfomycin, which showed synergy in only 4 isolates and no bactericidal activities by using concentrations of 1/2× MIC and 1/4× MIC, respectively., Conclusions: The combination of tigecycline and colistin may be considered as a last-resort approach to the ESBL-producing KP infections, especially those isolates with carbapenem resistance., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) resistance to broad-spectrum cephalosporin (BSC) in meningitis is important because of limited therapeutic options. To investigate the antibiotic resistance, virulence and epidemiology of KP in meningitis, we conducted a retrospective study for 33 non-metastatic isolates, including primary meningitis (n = 20) and post-craniotomy meningitis (n = 13) collected from 1999 to 2013. BSC resistance was found in 9 (27.3%) isolates, all from post-craniotomy meningitis, harboring bla SHV-5 (n = 6), bla CMY-2 (n = 2), bla DHA-1 (n = 2), and bla TEM-1B (n = 1). Positive virulence factors were hypermucoviscosity (n = 22), larger bacterial size (n = 24), virulent capsule serotypes (n = 24, K2, 11; K1, 5; K57, 3; K5, 2; K20, 2 and K54, 1), rmpA (n = 23), rmpA 2 (n = 20), aerobactin gene (n = 22) and high-grade serum resistance (n = 23, 69.7%). Higher mouse lethality (LD 50  < 10 6 ) was found in 16 isolates (48.5%). Post-craniotomy isolates were significantly less virulent than primary meningitis isolates, except for similar serum resistance capability. The pulsotype and sequence typing (ST) results were diverse. A minor cluster with pulsotype C and ST23 (n = 5) was identified in primary meningitis isolates. In conclusion, virulence factors and BSC resistance corresponded to about 70% and 30% of KP meningitis isolates respectively. BSC remains appropriate for treating primary meningitis, whereas meropenem is indicated for post-craniotomy meningitis empirically.

We investigated the implications of hypervirulence determinants on clinical features of 48 adult patients with bacteremia caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Isolates in the hypervirulence group included any of the following virulence determinants: K1/K2 capsule serotypes, hypermucoviscosity phenotype, rmpA gene, or rmpA2 gene. Nonhypervirulence group isolates were negative for all of the above virulence factors. In this study, all isolates used were non-K1/K2 strains. Statistically significant differences were observed in clinical features of patients between the two groups. The hypervirulent isolates (n = 19), including 11 isolates with the hypermucoviscosity phenotype, 15 with the rmpA gene, and 16 with the rmpA2 gene, were more commonly recovered from diabetic patients and mainly manifested as secondary bacteremia (such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, or other localized infections). The nonhypervirulent isolates (n = 29) were more commonly recovered from patients after prolonged hospital stays (>30 days) and mostly manifested as primary bacteremia. The overall in-hospital mortality was 56.3%. Hazard ratio (HR) analysis revealed the following positive predictors for mortality: nosocomial infection, stay in an intensive care unit, no removal of the central venous catheter, Charlson comorbidity score, and APACHE II score (≧15). The negative predictors were initial appropriate antibiotic therapy (HR 0.42) and urinary tract infection (HR 0.19). Charlson score was an independent confounder based on multivariate analysis (HR 1.43, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.99). In conclusion, hypervirulence determinants played a role in causing secondary infections in diabetic patients; however, the presence of morbidity cofactors could themselves influence mortality, despite the absence of hypervirulence determinants.

The widespread multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae pose a serious therapeutic challenge. Colistin and tigecycline are potential antimicrobial agents for treating infections caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae. We evaluated the in-vitro activity of colistin sulfate against 253 ESBL producers isolated from patients admitted to a medical center in southern Taiwan (Escherichia coli, n = 82; Klebsiella pneumoniae, n = 102; Enterobacter cloacae, n = 34; and Serratia marcescens, n = 35). Colistin showed promising in-vitro activity against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and E. cloacae, but not S. marcescens. One ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae strain with resistance to carbapenems (ertapenem, imipenem, and meropenem) was selected for time-killing studies. A combination of colistin and tigecycline showed synergism, but there was an inoculum effect. In conclusion, colistin was active against most ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae, and a combination of colistin with tigecycline was synergistic against some highly resistant strains, even those with carbapenem resistance., (Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

We first describe two novel variants of blaKPC, blaKPC-16 and blaKPC-17, which were identified in three Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from a patient in Taiwan. KPC-16 and KPC-17 differed from KPC-2 by two (P202S and F207L) and a single (F207L) amino acid substitutions, respectively. All three isolates with identical pulsotype belonged to sequence type 11. The MICs of the three isolates for colistin and tigecycline were 0.5 μg/mL and 2 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, an outbreak of at least 39 blaKPC-17-containing K. pneumoniae isolates is ongoing in southern Taiwan in 2014. Physicians should know that blaKPC-17-containing isolates can substantially threaten public health., (Copyright © 2014 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Invasive syndrome caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP), including liver abscess, is mainly caused by community-acquired strains with characteristics of positive hypermucoviscosity (HV) phenotype and regulator of mucoid phenotype A (rmpA) and transcriptional activator (rmpA2) genes. Extended- spectrum β-lactamase-producing KP (ESBL-KP) is commonly nosocomial and rarely HV-positive. We aimed to explore the reasons of the rarer prevalence of HV phenotype, rmpA and rmpA2 as well as the virulence phenotype among the ESBL-KP isolates from clinical specimens than those non-ESBL isolates. The β-lactamase genes, rmpA, rmpA2 and genes for K capsule serotype of 440 KP isolates were analyzed. The virulence of the isolates was characterized by the mouse lethality experiments. The prevalence rates of HV phenotype (∼ 50% vs. < 10%) as well as rmpA and rmpA2 genes (∼ 50-60% vs. < 20-30%) were significantly higher in non-ESBL group than in the ESBL group (p < 0.0001). Expression of HV phenotype in the rmpA-positive KP isolates was significantly rarer in the ESBL group than in non-ESBL group (33.3% vs. 91.9%, p < 0.0001). The frameshift mutations of rmpA and/or rmpA2 corresponded to negative HV phenotype of KP isolates that harbored the rmpA and/or rmpA2, resulting in variable mouse lethality (LD50, ∼ 10(3) - >5 × 10(7) CFU). The mutation rates might significantly differ among KP isolates from various sources. Virulence was dependent on rmpA-related HV phenotype. In conclusion, ESBL-KP isolates were less hypermucoviscous and less virulent than non-ESBL KP isolates, mostly due to concurrently lower carriage and higher mutation rates of the rmpA and rmpA2 genes.