The abundance of capsule (wabG) and fimbria (fimH) coding genes in multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from patients admitted to Isfahan hospitals

The high resistance of K. pneumoniae strains to various antibiotics is remarkable. The most important virulence factors for K. pneumoniae include fimbriae, capsule, lipopolysaccharide, outer membrane proteins, and iron transport molecules. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of capsule (wabG) and fimbriae (fimH) coding genes in MDR K. pneumoniae strains isolated from patients admitted to Isfahan (Iran) hospitals. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of the isolates was carried out by the disk diffusion method. Definitive confirmation of MDR isolates was done by tracing the 16S-23S ITS gene, and the presence of capsule (wabG) and fimbriae (fimH) genes was investigated in the isolates. Data analysis was done using an independent parametric T-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). One hundred and two K. pneumoniae isolates were detected in the samples, including urine, respiratory tract, blood, throat, cerebrospinal fluid, direct discharge, wound secretions, pleural fluid, joint fluid, abscess discharge, stool, and sputum. Men were significantly more infected with K. pneumoniae than women. The highest frequency of the isolates was related to urine (40%), followed by the respiratory tract (27%). The largest number of isolates were found in the ICU (37%) and emergency (28%) departments. Out of the 102 isolates of K. pneumoniae, 50 isolates (49%) were MDR, and 50 (49%) were carbapenem-resistant. Of the 50 MDR isolates, 48 (96%) and 47 (94%) had fimH and wabG genes, respectively. High frequencies of MDR and carbapenem-resistant strains of K. pneumoniae with a high prevalence of fimH and wabG genes are significant and should be considered by healthcare management.