Diversity of beta-lactamases among Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated in a university hospital in Greece.
Among 48 clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated in a university hospital in Northern Greece, 29 (60.4%) exhibited resistance to third generation cephalosporins (3GC) and aztreonam. Thirty-two (66.7%) of the isolates were found resistant to the combination of ampicillin/sulbactam and six (12.5%) exhibited resistance to all the above antibodies plus cefoxitin. Resistance to 3GC was related mostly with the presence of a beta-lactamase exhibiting pI 8.2 and substrate profile of an SHV-5 type enzyme and rarely (in two of the cefoxitin resistant strains) with the presence of plasmid-mediated class C cephalosporinases. Resistance to the ampicillin/sulbactam combination was associated with the presence of a beta-lactamase with pI 5.4, presumably representing a TEM-1 beta-lactamase. These findings record a diversity of beta-lactamases and explain, at least partly, the various beta-lactam resistance patterns observed in our K. pneumoniae sample.
Tsakris
A
A
Department of Medical Microbiology, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Tzouvelekis
L S
LS
Douboyas
J
J
Panagea
T
T
Tzelepi
E
E
D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006115:Greece; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D018440:beta-Lactam Resistance; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000032:analysis
D001618:beta-Lactamases