Antibiotic resistance and its correlation with biofilm formation and virulence genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from wounds

Abstract Klebsiella pneumoniae is the most important species of the Klebsiella genus and often causes hospital infections. These bacteria have a high resistance to most of the available drugs, which has caused concern all over the world. In this study, we investigated the antibiotic resistance profile and the ability to produce Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) among K. pneumoniae isolates, then we investigated the relationship between these two factors with biofilm formation and the prevalence of different virulence genes. In this study, 130 isolates of K. pneumoniae isolated from wounds were investigated. The antibiotic resistance of the isolates was evaluated by the disk diffusion method. The microtiter plate method was used to measure biofilm formation. The prevalence of virulence genes was detected by multiplex PCR.Among the examined isolates, 85.3% showed multidrug resistance. 87.6% of the isolates were ESBL-positive. Imipenem, Meropenem, and Fosfamycin were the most effective drugs. The ability of the isolates to produce biofilm was strong (80%), moderate (12.3%), and weak (7.6%), respectively. FimH, mrKD, entB and tolC virulence genes were observed in all isolates.High prevalence of antibiotic resistance (especially multidrug resistance), high prevalence of ESBL-producing isolates, the ability of all isolates to form a biofilm (especially strong biofilm) and the presence of FimH, mrKD, entB and tolC virulence genes in all isolate show the importance of these factors in the pathogenesis of K. pneumoniae isolates in Iraq.