Infection and Drug Resistance (Jan 2024)

Higher Virulence Renders K2 Klebsiella pneumoniae a Stable Share Among Those from Pyogenic Liver Abscess

  • Dong M,
  • Ma X,
  • Wang D,
  • Ma X,
  • Zhang J,
  • Yu L,
  • Yang Q,
  • Hu D,
  • Qiao D

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 283 – 291

Abstract

Read online

Min Dong,1,* Xiumin Ma,2,* Donglian Wang,3,* Xiaobo Ma,4 Jin Zhang,5 Lianhua Yu,5 Qing Yang,6 Dakang Hu,5,7 Dengyan Qiao8 1Department of Pulmonary Diseases (Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine), Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, People’s Republic of China; 2State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, Clinical Laboratory Center, Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Laboratory Medicine, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Linhai, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University (Xiamen Key Laboratory of Genetic Testing), Xiamen, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Laboratory Medicine, Taizhou Municipal Hospital, Taizhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Laboratory Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 7Department of Laboratory Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 8Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gansu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Dakang Hu; Dengyan Qiao, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: To explore why serotype K2 accounts for a stable share in Klebsiella pneumoniae from pyogenic liver abscess (PLA).Methods: Totally 15 K2 K. pneumoniae strains from PLA, 21 K2 from non-PLA, and 31 K1 from PLA were collected from China. Sequence typing, molecular serotyping, regular PCR, and Galleria mellonella lethality were performed. A total of 12 virulence genes were detected: peg-344, allS, p-rmpA, p-rmpA2, c-rmpA, fimH, mrkD, iucA, iroN, irp2, entB, and wzi. The differences between K2 K. pneumoniae strains from PLA and non-PLA were investigated along with K1 ones.Results: Significant differences were found between K2 strains from PLA and non-PLA for the rates of virulence genes peg-344 and iucA. The latter group also showed more diverse sequence types than the former. Significant differences were only found for virulence genes allS and irp2 between K1 and K2 strains from PLA. Based on the equal virulence factors backgrounds other than serotypes, K2 strain is more virulent than K1 as G. mellonella lethality confirmed. Gene p-rmpA only brings equal virulence to p-rmpA plus p-rmpA2 in K2 strain.Conclusion: Based on the same virulence factors backgrounds except serotypes, K2 K. pneumoniae is more virulent than K1 from PLA, which provides a survival advantage to maintain a stable share.Keywords: Klebsiella pneumoniae, pyogenic liver abscess, serotype, virulence, gene

Keywords