Skip Navigation


JAC Advance Access originally published online on September 4, 2008
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2008 62(6):1257-1260; doi:10.1093/jac/dkn364
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
62/6/1257    most recent
dkn364v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tsakris, A.
Right arrow Articles by Pournaras, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Tsakris, A.
Right arrow Articles by Pournaras, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Original research

First occurrence of KPC-2-possessing Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Greek hospital and recommendation for detection with boronic acid disc tests

Athanassios Tsakris1,*, Ioulia Kristo2, Aggeliki Poulou3, Fani Markou3, Alexandros Ikonomidis2 and Spyros Pournaras2

1 Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece 2 Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece 3 Department of Microbiology, Serres General Hospital, Serres, Greece

Received 12 June 2008; returned 20 June 2008; revised 6 August 2008; accepted 7 August 2008

* Corresponding author. Tel: +30-210-746-2011; Fax: +30-210-746-2210; E-mail: atsakris{at}med.uoa.gr

Objectives: To investigate the first KPC carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate from a Greek hospital, including phenotypic methods to aid recognition of this resistance type.

Methods: A carbapenem-resistant clinical isolate of K. pneumoniae was recovered from a hospitalized Greek patient. Detailed susceptibility testing was carried out by the agar dilution method. The isolate was screened by phenotypic and genotypic assays for the presence of various β-lactamases. Boronic acid disc tests were performed to show the ability of these tests to detect production of the KPC enzymes. The potential for conjugal transfer of carbapenem resistance was examined by biparental matings, plasmid analysis and PCR studies.

Results: The isolate possessed on the same self-transferable plasmid the KPC-2 carbapenemase and the SHV-12 extended-spectrum β-lactamase. Although the isolate did not produce an AmpC-type enzyme, the production of KPC-2 was associated with positive boronic acid disc tests using cephamycins and cefotaxime as well as cefepime and carbapenems as substrates.

Discussion: KPC-2-possessing K. pneumoniae clinical isolates seem to have been introduced in our region. Boronic acid disc tests using boronic acid in combination with carbapenems or cefepime may help the phenotypic detection of KPC enzymes and their distinction from plasmid-mediated AmpC enzymes.

Keywords: carbapenemases , extended-spectrum β-lactamases , combined disc test


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Clin. Microbiol.Home page
A. Tsakris, A. Poulou, K. Themeli-Digalaki, E. Voulgari, T. Pittaras, D. Sofianou, S. Pournaras, and D. Petropoulou
Use of Boronic Acid Disk Tests To Detect Extended- Spectrum {beta}-Lactamases in Clinical Isolates of KPC Carbapenemase-Possessing Enterobacteriaceae
J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2009; 47(11): 3420 - 3426.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.Home page
P. Giakkoupi, O. Pappa, M. Polemis, A. C. Vatopoulos, V. Miriagou, A. Zioga, C. C. Papagiannitsis, and L. S. Tzouvelekis
Emerging Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates Coproducing KPC-2 and VIM-1 Carbapenemases
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., September 1, 2009; 53(9): 4048 - 4050.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
D. M. Livermore
Has the era of untreatable infections arrived?
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., September 1, 2009; 64(suppl_1): i29 - i36.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
S. Pournaras, E. Protonotariou, E. Voulgari, I. Kristo, E. Dimitroulia, D. Vitti, M. Tsalidou, A. N. Maniatis, A. Tsakris, and D. Sofianou
Clonal spread of KPC-2 carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strains in Greece
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., August 1, 2009; 64(2): 348 - 352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CMAJHome page
B. Toye, S. Krajden, M. Fuksa, D. E. Low, and D. R. Pillai
Carbapenem resistance in Canada
Can. Med. Assoc. J., June 9, 2009; 180(12): 1225 - 1226.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
O. Samuelsen, U. Naseer, S. Tofteland, D. H. Skutlaberg, A. Onken, R. Hjetland, A. Sundsfjord, and C. G. Giske
Emergence of clonally related Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates of sequence type 258 producing plasmid-mediated KPC carbapenemase in Norway and Sweden
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., April 1, 2009; 63(4): 654 - 658.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Clin. Microbiol.Home page
A. Tsakris, I. Kristo, A. Poulou, K. Themeli-Digalaki, A. Ikonomidis, D. Petropoulou, S. Pournaras, and D. Sofianou
Evaluation of Boronic Acid Disk Tests for Differentiating KPC-Possessing Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates in the Clinical Laboratory
J. Clin. Microbiol., February 1, 2009; 47(2): 362 - 367.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Clin. Microbiol. Rev.Home page
G. A. Jacoby
AmpC {beta}-Lactamases
Clin. Microbiol. Rev., January 1, 2009; 22(1): 161 - 182.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.