Involvement of the AcrAB Efflux Pump in Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Clinical Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates

Background: Increasing prevalence of multiple antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains confines the therapeutic options used to treat bacterial infections. Objective: We aimed in this study to investigate the role of AcrAB and qepA efflux pumps and AAC(6′)-Ib-cr enzyme in ciprofloxacin resistance and to detect the RAPD-PCR fingerprint of K. pneumoniae isolates. Methods: A total of , 117 K. pneumoniae isolates were collected from hospitalized patients in three hospitals in Tehran, Iran, from August 2013 to March 2014. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed by the disk diffusion method. Molecular identification and expression level of encoding quinolone resistance genes, acrA, acrB, qepA, and aac(6')-Ib-cr, were performed by PCR and real-- time PCR assays, respectively. All the K. pneumoniae isolates containing the mentioned genes were used simultaneously for RAPD-PCR typing. Results: Colistin and carbapenems were the most efficient antibiotics against the clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae. PCR assay demonstrated that among the 117 isolates, 110 (94%) and 102 (87%) were positive for acrA and acrB gene and 5 (4%) and 100 (85%) isolates showed to have qepA and aac(6′)-Ib-cr genes, respectively. Determination for AcrAB pump expression in 21% of strains demonstrated an increased expression, and the mean increase expression for acrB genes was 0.5-81. The results of RAPD-PCR reflected that in 95% CI, all isolates belonged to a clone. Conclusion: A high prevalence of genes encoding quinolone resistance in K. pneumoniae was detected in clinical samples. Therefore, the control of infection and prevention of drug-resistant bacteria spread need careful management of medication and identification of resistant isolates.