Plasmid-mediated Quinolone Resistance Determinants in Urinary Isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in a Large Singapore Hospital

Introduction: At the time of the study, 3 plasmid-borne qnr determinants (qnrA, qnrB and qnrS) and 1 plasmid-borne aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme determinant that confers quinolone resistance (aac(6')-Ib-cr) had been described in the literature. Materials and Methods: We studied the prevalence of the 3 qnr determinants in a total of 117 nalidixic acid-resistant urinary isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae (61 isolates) and Escherichia coli (56 isolates) using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Further, a subset of the original strains (comprising 14 E. coli and 38 K. pneumoniae) showing reduced susceptibility to the aminoglycosides underwent PCR for aac(6')-Ib, followed by restriction digestion with BtsCI to detect the variant aac(6')-1b-cr. Results: Twenty-eight of 61 (45.9%) Klebsiella isolates were found to possess at least I qnr determinant. Only 1/56 (1.8%) E. coli isolates were found to possess a qnr determinant. Two of the Klebsiella isolates possessed 2 qnr determinants each (qnrB and qnrS). The predominant determinant was qnrB (19 isolates). There were 11 isolates harbouring qnrS, and only I with qnrA. 1/14 (7.1%) E. coli and 35/38 K. pneumoniae (92.1%) were found to possess aac(6')-1b-cr. There was pairwise association between each of qnr, aac(6)-1b-cr and the presence of an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase. Conclusions: A high prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants [i.e., qnrS, qnrB and aac(6')-Ib-cr] was found in quinolone-resistant K. pneumoniae isolated in a large hospital in Singapore.