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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, July 2008, p. 2449-2454, Vol. 52, No. 7
0066-4804/08/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.00043-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

El
bieta Literacka,
Agnieszka Mrówka,
Janusz Fiett,
Ewa Sadowy,
Waleria Hryniewicz,
Marek Gniadkowski,* and the Beta-PL Study Group
National Medicines Institute, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland
Received 11 January 2008/ Returned for modification 23 March 2008/ Accepted 25 April 2008
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Owing to many difficulties, large-scale molecular surveys of the enterobacterial resistance to newer β-lactams are rare and they are often limited to selected species (e.g., Klebsiella pneumoniae or Escherichia coli), isolates from specific hospital wards or specimen types (e.g., isolates from intensive care units [ICUs] or invasive isolates), or ESBL producers only (12, 15, 22, 24, 32). Therefore, it is not easy to compare the data from different studies, although it is clear that there are significant variations, e.g., in ESBL frequencies and types from country to country (22, 24, 32). A comprehensive recent survey of ESBLs in Italy showed the prevalence of the ESBL producers to be 7.4% among all enterobacterial isolates from inpatients and 3.5% among those from outpatients (28). In a new study in France, the prevalence of ESBL producers was estimated to be 1.7%, without a distinction between isolates from patients with nosocomial and community-acquired infections (17). Over time, various surveys have shown the predominance of TEM or SHV ESBLs in different countries (8), but recently, a new trend has become clear, that is, the rapidly growing contribution of CTX-M-type enzymes (7, 27).
Here, we report the results of the first systemic survey of enterobacteria resistant to newer β-lactams in Poland performed so far. The study aimed at determining the frequencies of clinical isolates with ESBLs, acquired AmpCs, and class A inhibitor-resistant β-lactamases and revealing basic aspects of the molecular epidemiologies of these organisms in Polish hospitals.
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FIG. 1. Geographic locations of the study centers.
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Finally, the survey covered 2,388 enterobacterial isolates in total, including 981 ampicillin-susceptible E. coli, P. mirabilis, and Salmonella spp. isolates and 1,407 isolates qualified for the study at the NMI. The distribution of major taxa (Table 1) showed the high prevalence of E. coli (59.6%), followed by P. mirabilis (14.5%), Klebsiella spp. (8.5%), and Enterobacter spp. (6.6%). Most of the isolates sent to the NMI were derived from patients in surgical wards, general medicine wards, and ICUs; the most common specimens were urine and those indicative of lower respiratory tract and surgical-site infections (data not shown).
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TABLE 1. Distribution of bacterial species among all isolates and among ESBL producers and prevalence of ESBLs among the species
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In the second round of testing, all isolates with reduced susceptibilities to cefotaxime and ceftazidime without synergism with clavulanate (regardless of the result with cefepime) and without susceptibility to cefoxitin at the same time were analyzed by the DDST in the presence of 250 µg of cloxacillin (Polfa Tarchomin, Warsaw, Poland)/ml. Such isolates were classified as possible AmpC hyperproducers when cloxacillin augmented their inhibition zones. They were also judged to be ESBL producers when the DDST showed a positive result (often correlating with synergism between cefepime and clavulanate in the first round). On the other hand, each DDST-negative isolate susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime, and cefoxitin but nonsusceptible to amoxicillin with clavulanate was tested further with a disk containing cephalothin (30 µg). Cephalothin susceptibility in such isolates was interpreted to be suggestive of the production of a class A inhibitor-resistant β-lactamase (10).
Antibiotic disks used were from BD (Sparks, MD), bioMérieux, or Oxoid (Basingstoke, United Kingdom). Susceptibility results were interpreted according to the guidelines of the CLSI (11). E. coli ATCC 25922 and ATCC 35218 and K. pneumoniae ATCC 700603 were used as controls.
IEF analysis of β-lactamases and bioassay. All isolates identified as potentially having target resistance phenotypes were subjected to β-lactamase profiling by isoelectric focusing (IEF) as described previously (3) by using a model 111 mini IEF cell (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). β-Lactamases were visualized with 0.5 mM nitrocefin (Oxoid) and with 0.5 mM nitrocefin plus 0.3 mM cloxacillin. K. pneumoniae isolates possibly having SHV ESBLs with a pI of 7.6 were tested further by a bioassay (3) with 2 µg of cefotaxime (Polfa Tarchomin)/ml.
Mating. For all K. pneumoniae isolates with SHV-type ESBLs, resistance transfer experiments were performed with E. coli A15 isolates resistant to rifampin or nalidixic acid as recipients, as described previously (18). Transconjugants were selected on MacConkey agar (Oxoid) with 2 µg of ceftazidime (GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, United Kingdom)/ml or 20 µg of cephalothin (Sigma, St. Louis, MO)/ml and 128 µg of rifampin (Polfa Tarchomin)/ml or 64 µg of nalidixic acid (Sigma)/ml.
PCR detection of blaCTX-M, blaSHV, and blaTEM genes. Bacterial DNA was purified with the genomic DNA prep plus kit (A & A Biotechnology, Gdynia, Poland). Genes coding for CTX-M β-lactamases of the CTX-M-1 group (7) (blaCTX-M) were amplified using primers P1C and P2D (19). Primers SHV-A and SHV-B were used for the partial amplification of genes encoding SHV β-lactamases (blaSHV) (18). For K. pneumoniae isolates with SHV ESBLs, the PCRs were performed with DNA of the corresponding E. coli transconjugants. Genes coding for TEM β-lactamases (blaTEM) were amplified with primers TEM-A and TEM-B (18, 29).
PCR detection of ampC-like genes. The C. freundii ampC-like genes (blaCMY) were amplified with primers CF-1 and CF-2 (9, 25). Multiplex PCR for other types of mobile ampC genes was performed according to the method of Pérez-Pérez and Hanson (34).
Sequencing of β-lactamase genes. Sequences of the PCR products with complete blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and blaCMY genes were determined with consecutive primers as described previously (2, 18, 25, 29). The entire coding regions of blaSHV genes were amplified in two overlapping fragments, with primers SHV-E (5'-ATGCGTTATATTCGC-3') and SHV-B for the 5' part and SHV-A and SHV-H (16) for the 3' part. For SHV-type ESBL genes of K. pneumoniae isolates, DNA of E. coli transconjugants was used in the PCRs. Subsequently, SHV-E-SHV-B amplicons (783 bp) were sequenced with primers SHV-E, SHV-F, SHV-G, SHV-A, and SHV-B, whereas SHV-A-SHV-H amplicons (375 bp) were sequenced with primers SHV-A, SHV-B, and SHV-H (16, 18). Prior to sequencing, PCR products were purified with the QIAquick PCR purification kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany), and the analysis was carried out using an ABI PRISM 310 sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). β-Lactamase sequences were identified using the database available at http://www.lahey.org/studies/webt.asp.
RAPD typing. Typing by the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was carried out separately with two primers, RAPD-7 and RAPD-1283 (36), as reported previously (18).
Nucleotide sequence accession number. The nucleotide sequence of the blaCMY-38 gene coding region has been deposited in the GenBank database under the accession number AM931008.
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TABLE 2. Distribution of ESBL producers among the participant centers
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ESBL types. The IEF analysis, followed by specific PCRs, allowed for the identification of ESBL families in the study isolates. Later, for each hospital, ESBL genes from isolate representatives of each species, RAPD type, and β-lactamase profile were subjected to sequencing.
ESBLs with six different pIs, 8.9 (ESBLs from 3 isolates), 8.4 (ESBLs from 216 isolates), 8.2 (ESBLs from 44 isolates), 7.6 (ESBLs from 3 isolates), and 6.0 and 5.4 (ESBLs from 1 isolate each), were identified (Table 3). Considering that four K. pneumoniae isolates produced both pI 8.4 and 8.2 β-lactamases, 268 ESBLs were found in total. The pI 8.9 and the pI 8.4 enzymes were identified as CTX-M-15 and CTX-M-3, respectively. The pI 8.2 β-lactamases were SHV-5 or, sporadically, SHV-12, whereas the pI 7.6 ESBLs were SHV-2. The pI 6.0 and 5.4 enzymes corresponded to TEM-48 and TEM-19, respectively. The analysis demonstrated a high-level predominance of CTX-M β-lactamases (81.7% of all ESBLs, including CTX-M-3 at 80.6%), followed by SHV- and TEM-type enzymes (17.5 and 0.7%, respectively). CTX-M β-lactamases were prevalent among isolates from all centers, being the only ESBL types in isolates from four of the centers (Tables 2 and 3).
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TABLE 3. ESBL, AmpC, and inhibitor-resistant β-lactamase types identified and their occurrence in isolates from the participant centers
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In the second round of typing, single representatives of each RAPD type were compared in species groups of isolates from all hospitals together. The analysis has not revealed unambiguous cases of the transfer of ESBL producers between different centers (results not shown).
AmpCs. Phenotypes indicative of high-level constitutive AmpC expression were identified in the natural AmpC producers (Enterobacter spp., C. freundii, S. marcescens, Morganella morganii, and E. coli, etc.) (4, 26) and only in P. mirabilis of the remaining species. In the cases of the natural producers, the multiplex PCR assays yielded only the products which corresponded to a given species (if covered by the assay). Therefore, these isolates were classified as probable AmpC-derepressed mutants or hyperproducers (4, 26).
Seventy-one P. mirabilis isolates, recovered from all but one of the centers (Table 3), which constituted 20.5% of all P. mirabilis isolates, demonstrated the putative AmpC-mediated phenotype. IEF revealed the presence of β-lactamases with a pI of
9.0 that stained with nitrocefin but not with nitrocefin and cloxacillin (Table 3). All these isolates produced amplicons corresponding to C. freundii ampC-like blaCMY genes, 24 of which, representing isolates from each center, were sequenced. The majority of these encoded CMY-15, a smaller set of genes encoded CMY-12, and one encoded a new variant, CMY-38, which is a derivative of CMY-15 with a single amino acid change, D237N (corresponding to the nucleotide change G709A). Eight isolates from three centers expressed both CMY-type AmpCs and the pI 8.4 CTX-M ESBLs (probably CTX-M-3).
Most of the AmpC-producing P. mirabilis isolates were recovered from urine (64.3%) and specimens from patients with surgical-site infections (21.4%). The patients affected were mainly those hospitalized in surgical wards (42.9%), followed by those in general medicine wards (22.9%) and ICUs (21.4%). The majority of these patients were males (71.4%) and were between the ages of 19 and 64 years (54.0%).
Class A inhibitor-resistant β-lactamases. Four isolates from two centers (Table 3) demonstrated phenotypes which could be attributed to the production of class A inhibitor-resistant β-lactamases (10). IEF revealed single β-lactamase bands with pIs of 5.2 or 5.4 for two E. coli isolates, 5.2 for P. mirabilis, and pI 7.6 for K. pneumoniae (Table 3). PCR and sequencing identified the pI 5.2 enzymes as TEM-30 (IRT-2) and TEM-37, whereas the pI 5.4 enzyme was identified as TEM-32 (IRT-3). The K. pneumoniae isolate produced SHV-49. Three of these isolates were recovered from postoperative wound specimens, and one was recovered from urine.
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ewska, unpublished data]), it is possible that resistant isolates are overrepresented in clinical laboratories. Nevertheless, the prevalence of ESBL producers in Poland has certainly reached an alarming level. One of the major factors in the prevalence is the intense clonal spread of ESBL-producing strains. Typing performed in this study revealed that outbreak isolates significantly contributed to ESBL producer subpopulations, including those of K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates. An extreme case was illustrated by S. marcescens isolates from center 11. This hospital recorded 51.0% of all S. marcescens isolates identified in the study, 93.9% of which were ESBL positive. Of the ESBL producers, 91.3% belonged to two disseminated clones with different ESBL types. Therefore, outbreaks occurring in the area of center 11 were mainly responsible for the high prevalence of S. marcescens isolates among ESBL-producing organisms in the study. At the same time, the results of typing indicated common shortcomings in infection control systems in the hospitals.
The identification of ESBL types revealed an overwhelming occurrence of CTX-M β-lactamases, owing almost exclusively to CTX-M-3. SHV types still constituted a significant group, but TEM-like enzymes appeared as ephemeras. In 1998, a limited study on ESBL types in six hospitals revealed the predominance of SHVs (60.4%) and comparable frequencies of TEMs and CTX-Ms (20.1 and 18.8%, respectively) (M. Gniadkowski, A. Baraniak, J. Fiett, and W. Hryniewicz, unpublished results). Although the data from that study and the present study are not fully comparable, the rapid increase in the prevalence of CTX-M producers is unquestionable. It corresponds well to a large number of recent observations of such producers in many countries (7, 27); however, this report shows an extreme view of ESBL producer epidemiology in the "CTX-M era." In fact, in Poland, CTX-M producers have been circulating at least from the mid-1990s (19), and already by 2000 their quick spread had been observed (2). The IncL/M transmissible plasmids with the blaCTX-M-3 gene are in large part responsible for the predominance of CTX-M-3 (20). CTX-M-15, prevalent in other countries (27), appears sporadically in Poland owing to a mutation in mobile blaCTX-M-3 genes (1). The survey results sum up the data from the earlier fragmentary studies.
Another important set of data reported here concerns the acquired AmpC-type cephalosporinases. Although in global terms, the producers of such enzymes are less frequent than those of ESBLs, their role in some countries seems to be increasing (12, 30, 31, 37). In most cases, acquired AmpCs have been found in K. pneumoniae and E. coli, encoded by plasmid-carried genes (4, 35). In contrast, in Poland, acquired AmpCs have been identified so far only in clonally related P. mirabilis isolates with chromosomal blaCMY genes originating from C. freundii (25). Consistently, all the AmpC-producing P. mirabilis isolates investigated here expressed the C. freundii-related cephalosporinases, mainly CMY-15 (25). It is noteworthy that the prevalence of these isolates, 20.5% of all P. mirabilis isolates in the study, much surpassed the prevalence of ESBL producers among isolates of this species (11.5%). Considering that P. mirabilis was the second most prevalent species, it is clear that resistance associated with acquired AmpCs has become a serious problem in Poland. It is also possible that CMY-producing P. mirabilis strains will soon be of more general importance, as indicated by recent data from Italy (13, 30).
The screening methodology used in this work also allowed the detection of isolates with the class A inhibitor-resistant β-lactamases (10, 33), namely, four isolates of E. coli (two isolates), P. mirabilis (one isolate), and K. pneumoniae (one isolate) producing TEM-30, TEM-32, TEM-37, and SHV-49 (5, 6, 14, 21). This is the first report of such enzymes in Poland, although it should be noticed that no procedures for their detection have been implemented in microbiology laboratories. Considering the low number of isolates from only two centers, one may assume that these β-lactamases are not widely spread in nosocomial populations of Enterobacteriaceae in Poland. It is, however, impossible to assess this problem in the community, where such isolates have been observed more often than in the hospital setting in other countries (10, 33).
This paper reports one of the more detailed molecular surveys of β-lactamases in nosocomial enterobacteria on a countrywide scale. Covering all enterobacterial species and various resistance types, it addressed not only the problem of ESBLs but also that of other enzymes compromising newer β-lactams. The results showed one of the highest rates of ESBL frequency ever reported at the national level and demonstrated how far the spread of CTX-Ms may change the ESBL epidemiology. The study also revealed the problem of AmpC-producing P. mirabilis, which may become of broader geographic significance in the future.
mska 30/34, 00-725 Warsaw, Poland. Phone: (48) 22-851 43 88. Fax: (48) 22-841 29 49. E-mail: gniadkow{at}cls.edu.pl
Published ahead of print on 5 May 2008. ![]()
These authors contributed equally to this work. ![]()
In addition to the authors listed, the Beta-PL Study Group included the following members: J. Bakiera, Voivodship Specialist Hospital, Lublin, Poland; A. Budak, Kraków Specialist Hospital, Kraków, Poland; K. Burdynowski, Voivodship Medical Center, Opole, Poland; K. Golec, Voivodship Hospital No. 2, Rzeszów, Poland; E. Jaworska-B
ach, Voivodship Specialist Hospital, Wroc
aw, Poland; J. Kochanowska, Voivodship Hospital, Bydgoszcz, Poland; A. Powarzy
ska, Voivodship Hospital No. 2, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland; B. Ruszel, Voivodship Hospital, Koszalin, Poland; E. Sobolewska, Copernicus Specialist Hospital, £ód
, Poland; D. Stankiewicz, Bródno Voivodship Hospital, Warsaw, Poland; M. Szarata, Voivodship Hospital, Pozna
, Poland; G. Zió
kowski, St. Barbara Voivodship Specialist Hospital, Sosnowiec, Poland; B.
aglewska, St. Adalbert Specialist Hospital, Gda
sk, Poland; and W.
ulikowski, Voivodship Hospital, £om
a, Poland. ![]()
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