Frequency of virulence factors in high biofilm formation blaKPC-2 producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from hospitals

The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of virulence genes in high biofilm formation blaKPC-2 producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains collected over a period of two years. A total of 43 non-repetitive high biofilm blaKPC-2 producing isolates were screened from 429 strains. The MIC of carbapenems (imipenem and meropenem) ranged from 4 to 32 μg/ml. The OD595 value of the biofilm ranged from 0.56 to 2.56. The K1, K2, K5, K20, K54, K57 genotypes, MLST and virulence factors, including entB, ybtS, mrkD, fimH, rmpA, allS, iutA, kfu, wcaG, aerobaction, fecIRA, shiF, magA and pagO gene, were determined by PCR. The results showed that, among the 43 isolates, 5 of 43 were K1 type, 25 of 43 were K2 type, 4 strains and 2 strains were K5 and K57 respectively. The MLST results showed that 23/43 strains were ST11, followed by ST433(4/43), ST107(4/43), ST690(4/43), ST304(2/43), ST2058(1/43), ST1(1/43), ST146(1/43), ST914(1/43), ST2636(1/43), ST2637(1/43). As to the virulence factors, all 43 strains carried entB, ybtS and mrkD gene, followed by fimH(38/43), rmpA(14/43), allS(34/43), iutA(27/43), kfu(25/43), wcaG(21/43), aerobaction(16/43), fecIRA(15/43), shiF(10/43), magA(5/43) and pagO(5/43). This study demonstrated that high frequency of virulence factors emerging in high biofim blaKPC-2 producing strains. It also suggested that we should continue to focus on the toxicity variation and it's high time to enhance clinical awareness to the infections causing by Klebsiella pneumoniae.