Characteristics of Meropenem Heteroresistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase (KPC)-Producing Clinical Isolates of K-pneumoniae
Συγγραφέας
Pournaras, S.; Kristo, I.; Vrioni, G.; Ikonomidis, A.; Poulou, A.; Petropoulou, D.; Tsakris, A.Ημερομηνία
2010Λέξη-κλειδί
Επιτομή
Meropenem heteroresistance was investigated in six apparently meropenem-susceptible, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae (KPC-KP) clinical isolates, compared with that in carbapenemase-negative, meropenem-susceptible controls. In population analyses, the KPC-KP isolates grew at meropenem concentrations of 64 to 256 mu g/ml. Heteroresistant colonies had significantly elevated expression of the bla(KPC) gene compared with the native populations but did not retain heteroresistance when subcultured in drug-free media. Time-kill assays indicated that meropenem alone was not bactericidal against KPC-KP but efficiently killed the control strains.