Microbiological characterization of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae belonging to the international epidemic clone ST258 in Asia: a systematic review

Klebsiella pneumoniae infection because of international epidemic clone ST258 constitutes a major health threat because of limiting efficient therapies. Hence, this study aimed to analyze the microbiological profiles of circulating of K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing K. pneumoniae belonging to ST258 clone in Asia. A systematic search was prepared and reported through searching the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar electronic databases to find all available articles that are pertinent to our design from January 2000 to December 2019. Afterward, 10 publications meeting the inclusion criteria were included for data extraction and analysis. The majority of included studies were from the eastern region including China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and only one report from the western region was reported in Turkey. The earliest report was in 2010 from Korea and the late one in 2017 from China. All of those studies that performed a carbapenemase detection method indicated positive results. Except for one isolate, which containing bla(KPC-3), all of the isolates harbor bla(KPC-2). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of colistin against ST258 isolates was estimated ranging from 0.094 to 4 mu g/ml. The plasmid investigation showed a marked heterogeneity toward the studied isolates; however, IncFII type plasmids were the most prevalent plasmid. Our findings highlighted that despite the growing concern regarding the potential distribution of KPC-producing K. pneumoniae in Asia, strains belonged to the ST258 clone are not the main suspects. However, more clinical studies should be performed in the future to support our findings. Copyright (c) 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.