Affiliation:
1. Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine Ardabil University of Medical Sciences Ardabil Iran
Abstract
AbstractBackground and AimsKlebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram‐negative bacterium that colonized various organs. This bacterium is associated with different community‐acquired and hospital‐acquired infections. The present study aims to assess the capsular serotypes and frequency of virulence‐associated genes in K. pneumoniae isolates from teaching hospitals in Ardabil, Iran.MethodsFrom October 1, 2019, to November 31, 2021, different clinical samples were collected and K. pneumoniae isolates were diagnosed using conventional biochemical tests. The final identification of K. pneumoniae was performed through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method using a specific primer targeting the khe gene. The PCR method was employed to confirm the presence of virulence‐associated genes and aerobactin, and the main capsular serotypes based on the specific primers.ResultsOf all 100 K. pneumoniae isolates, 4% and 2% were typeable with K5 and K2 primers, respectively. In addition, entB (94%), fimH (91%), and wcaG (87%) had the highest frequency among the virulence‐associated genes. 24% of K. pneumoniae isolates harbored the entB‐wcaG‐fimH genes simultaneously. Moreover, 50% of capsular serotype 5 harbored the ybts‐mrkD‐entB‐wcaG‐fimH genes simultaneously.ConclusionThe findings revealed that 6% of all K. pneumoniae isolates were typeable, distributed in the two serotypes K5 and K2. Most K. pneumoniae isolates were positive for multiple types of virulence genes. Identifying bacterial virulence genes aids in molecular detection, assay development, and therapeutic pathways.