Emergence of carbapenem non-susceptible multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains of clonal complexes 103 super(B) and 92 super(B) harboring OXA-type carbapenemases and metallo- beta -lactamases in Southern India

• Published in: Microbiology and immunology 2015-05, Vol.59 (5), p.277-284
• Main Authors: Saranathan, Rajagopalan, Vasanth, Vaidyanathan, Vasanth, Thamodharan, Shabareesh, Pidathala Raghavendra Venkata, Shashikala, P, Devi, Chandrakesan Sheela, Kalaivani, Ramakrishnan, Asir, Johny, Sudhakar, Pagal, Prashanth, K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acinetobacter baumannii
• ISSN: 0385-5600; 1348-0421
• DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12252

The molecular epidemiology and carbapenem resistance mechanisms of clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii obtained from a south Indian tertiary care hospital were investigated by repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence PCR (REP-PCR) and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Analysis of resistant determinants was achieved by PCR screening for the presence of genes encoding OXA-carbapenemases, metallo- beta -lactamases (MBLs) and efflux pumps. REP-PCR generated around eight clusters of high heterogeneity; of these, two major clusters (I and V) appeared to be clonal in origin. Analysis of representative isolates from different clusters by MLST revealed that most of the isolates belonged to sequence type 103 of CC103 super(B). Second most prevalent ST belonged to clonal complex (CC) 92 super(B) which is also referred to as international clone II. Most of the isolates were multi-drug resistant, being susceptible only to polymyxin-B and newer quinolones. Class D beta -lactamases such as bla sub(OXA-51-like) (100%), bla sub(OXA-23-like) (56.8%) and bla sub(OXA-24-like) (14.8%) were found to be predominant, followed by a class B beta -lactamase, namely bla sub(IMP-1) (40.7%); none of the isolates had bla sub(OXA-58) like, bla sub(NDM-1) or bla sub(SIM-1). Genes of efflux-pump adeABC were predominant, most of isolates being biofilm producers that were PCR-positive for autoinducer synthase gene (>94%). Carbapenem non-susceptible isolates were highly diverse and present throughout the hospital irrespective of type of ward or intensive care unit. Although previous reports have documented diverse resistant mechanisms in A. baumannii, production of MBL and OXA-type of carbapenamases were found to be the predominant mechanism(s) of carbapenem resistance identified in strains isolated from Southern India.