title: Diversity of beta-lactamases among Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated in a university hospital in Greece.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsakris
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Tzouvelekis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Douboyas
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Panagea
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tzelepi
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D001618:beta-Lactamases