A prospective matched case-control study on the genomic epidemiology of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales from Dutch patients

Karuna E.W. Vendrik*, Angela de Haan, Sandra Witteveen, Antoni P.A. Hendrickx*, Fabian Landman, Daan W. Notermans, Paul Bijkerk, Annelot F. Schoffelen, Sabine C. de Greeff, Cornelia C.H. Wielders, Jelle J. Goeman, Ed J. Kuijper, Leo M. Schouls, Karen Heemstra, Saara Vainio, Alewijn Ott, Steve de Jager, Fleur Koene, Vishal Hira, Nathalie van BurgelAnouk Muller, Karolien Nagtegaal-Baerveldt, Coby van der Meer, Rik van den Biggelaar, Oscar Pontesilli, Suzan van Mens, Wouter van den Bijllaardt, Eva Kolwijck, Ron Bosboom, Ine Frénay, Annemarie van ’t Veen, Annet Troelstra, Greetje Kampinga, Karin van Dijk, ColRE survey consortium

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Colistin is a last-resort treatment option for infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. However, colistin resistance is increasing. Methods: A six-month prospective matched case-control study was performed in which 22 Dutch laboratories with 32 associated hospitals participated. Laboratories were invited to send a maximum of five colistin-resistant Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae (COLR-EK) isolates and five colistin-susceptible isolates (COLS-EK) to the reference laboratory, matched for patient location, material of origin and bacterial species. Epidemiological/clinical data were collected and included in the analysis. Characteristics of COLR-EK/COLS-EK isolates were compared using logistic regression with correction for variables used for matching. Forty-six ColR-EK/ColS-EK pairs were analysed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) for whole-genome multi-locus sequence typing and identification of resistance genes, including mcr genes. To identify chromosomal mutations potentially leading to colistin resistance, NGS reads were mapped against gene sequences of pmrAB, phoPQ, mgrB and crrB. Results: In total, 72 COLR-EK/COLS-EK pairs (75% E. coli and 25% K. pneumoniae) were included. Twenty-one percent of COLR-EK patients had received colistin, in contrast to 3% of COLS-EK patients (OR > 2.9). Of COLR-EK isolates, five contained mcr-1 and two mcr-9. One isolate lost mcr-9 after repeated sub-culturing, but retained colistin resistance. Among 46 sequenced COLR-EK isolates, genetic diversity was large and 19 (41.3%) isolates had chromosomal mutations potentially associated with colistin resistance. Conclusions: Colistin resistance is present but uncommon in the Netherlands and caused by the mcr gene in a minority of COLR-EK isolates. There is a need for surveillance of colistin resistance using appropriate susceptibility testing methods.
Original languageEnglish
Article number55
Number of pages12
JournalCommunications medicine
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2022

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