Dissemination of IMP-6-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST244 in multiple cities in China

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen responsible for nosocomial infections and is currently reported to be a worldwide nosocomial menace. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological traits and the distribution of metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs)-producing P. aeruginosa clinical isolates in ten cities in China between January 2010 and May 2012. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disc diffusion assay and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of imipenem and meropenem were also determined by the Etest according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. In addition, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing were applied to detect bla (MBL) genes, and their epidemiological relationships were investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Of 368 P. aeruginosa isolates, MLST analysis identified 138 sequence types (STs), including 122 known and 16 novel STs, and the most frequently detected clone was ST244, followed by ST235. Besides, our study revealed that 25 isolates carried the bla (IMP-6) gene and three isolates carried the bla (VIM-2) gene, and a probe specific for both genes could be hybridised to an similar to 1,125-kb fragment in all isolates. Interestingly, all of the bla (IMP-6)-producing isolates shared an identical ST, ST244, and exhibited a higher level of resistance to several antibiotics. Overall, these observations suggest that P. aeruginosa ST244 carrying the chromosomally located bla (IMP-6) gene is widely disseminated in multiple cites in China.