Diminished Susceptibility to Cefoperazone/Sulbactam and Piperacillin/Tazobactam in Enterobacteriaceae Due to Narrow-Spectrum β-Lactamases as Well as Omp Mutation

Cefoperazone/sulbactam (CSL) and piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP) are commonly used in clinical practice in China because of their excellent antimicrobial activity. CSL and TZP-nonsusceptible Enterobacteriaceae are typically resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins such as ceftriaxone (CRO). However, 11 nonrepetitive Enterobacteriaceae strains, which were resistant to CSL and TZP yet susceptible to CRO, were collected from January to December 2020. Antibiotic susceptibility tests and whole-genome sequencing were conducted to elucidate the mechanism for this rare phenotype. Antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that all isolates were amoxicillin/clavulanic-acid resistant and sensitive to ceftazidime, cefepime, cefepime/tazobactam, cefepime/zidebactam, ceftazidime/avibactam, and ceftolozane/tazobactam. Whole-genome sequencing revealed three of seven Klebsiella pneumoniae strains harbored bla(SHV-1), I only, and four harbored bla(SHV-1) and bla(TEM-1B) . Two Escherichia coli strains carried bla(TEM-1B) only, while two Klebsiella oxytoca isolates harbored bla(OXY-1-3) and bla(OXY1-1), respectively. No mutation in the beta-lactamase gene and promoter sequence was found. Outer membrane protein (Omp) gene detection revealed that numerous missense mutations of OmpK36 and OmpK37 were found in all strains of K. pneumoniae. Numerous missense mutations of OmpK36 and OmpK35 and OmpK37 deficiency were found in one K. oxytoca strain, and no OmpK gene was found in the other. No Omp mutations were found in E. coli isolates. These results indicated that narrow spectrum beta-lactamases, TEM-1, SH V-1, and OXY-1, alone or in combination with Omp mutation, contributed to the resistance to CSL and TZP in CRO-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae.

Automated summary

This study identified bacteria strains that were resistant to cefoperazone/sulbactam and piperacillin/tazobactam, but susceptible to ceftriaxone. Whole-genome sequencing and antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that the resistance was associated with narrow spectrum beta-lactamases and outer membrane protein mutations.