ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae from clinical infections: A multifactorial analysis of resistance, virulence, and biofilm potential
Provisionally accepted
- 1Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
- 2School of Biosciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
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Klebsiella pneumoniae has emerged as a notorious nosocomial pathogen, with hypermucoviscous and hypervirulent variants intensifying clinical manifestations. In this study, 145 clinical isolates were comprehensively analyzed to determine their antimicrobial resistance profiles, virulence determinants, and biofilm-forming potential. Based on disk diffusion results, 73% of the isolates were classified as multidrug resistant, whereas minimum inhibitory concentration analysis showed the highest resistance to meropenem (71%), followed by colistin (61%) and tigecycline (43%). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis identified β-lactamase genes blaNDM and blaOXA-48 in 14% of isolates, with two strains co-harboring both. Additionally, 7% of isolates carried aerobactin (iucA) and rmpA, genes associated with iron acquisition and hypermucoviscosity, respectively. Phenotypic assessment demonstrated hypermucoviscosity in 10% of isolates via the string test, although only two of this exhibited strong biofilm production. Overall, biofilm formation was detected in 86% of the isolates. Collectively, these findings highlight the convergence of resistance mechanisms, virulence factors, and biofilm formation in K. pneumoniae, which synergistically enhance its persistence, pathogenicity, and therapeutic resistance, underscoring the need for robust infection control and novel treatment strategies.
Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, Biofilms, Hypervirulent, hypermucoviscous, Klebsiella pneumoniae
Received: 24 Sep 2025; Accepted: 05 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 JULIET and N. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ramesh N, ramesh.n@vit.ac.in
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