Although colistin is frequently regarded as the antibiotic of
last resort in treating carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae,
colistin heteroresistance may in part be associated
with antibiotic treatment failure. However, we do not know
how widespread the colistin heteroresistance is in carbapenem-
resistant K. pneumoniae isolates. In this study, we performed
colistin disc diffusion assays, E-tests, and population
analysis profiling for KPC-2-producing K. pneumoniae isolates
to identify colistin heteroresistance. Although no colistin-
resistant colonies were detected by the disc diffusion
test and E-test, a colistin-resistant subpopulation was identified
in population analysis profiling in all colistin-susceptible,
KPC-2-producing K. pneumoniae isolates. Colistin-resistant
subpopulations were also identified even when isolates
had no colistin exposure. The ratio of colistin-resistant
subpopulations to the total population increased as the exposure
concentration of colistin increased. In in vitro time-kill
assays, regrowth was observed in all isolates after 2 h upon
exposure to colistin. We identified common amino acid alterations
in PhoQ, PhoP, and PmrB in colistin-resistant subpopulations
from some isolates, but no substitutions were
found in most resistant subpopulations from other isolates.
In all colistin-resistant subpopulations, overexpression of
PhoQ and PbgP was observed. In this study, we demonstrated
that colistin heteroresistance may be common in KPC-2-producing
K. pneumoniae isolates, which could not be detected
in the disc diffusion method and E-test. Colistin heteroresistance
may cause colistin treatment failure in part and may
evolve into resistance. Thus, development of more reliable
diagnostic methods is required to detect colistin heteroresistance.
Citations
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