Phage-resistant Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae strain

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (HvKP) is common in community acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infection. In recent years, it is seriously threatening people's health because of its general susceptibility and multi site infection. The discover of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae makes clinical anti-infective therapy a great challenge. Researchers have been attempted to utilize the phage to combat the crisis but have found that host bacteria are prone to developing phage resistance in a short period of time, preventing phage therapy from becoming a stable and long-lasting antimicrobial tool. In this study,we isolated a phage resistant HvKP strain and explore the possible reasons for the virulence decline of phage resistant strains by analyzing the expression of virous virulence factors to provide support for the prediction of phage resistance and to bring out a basis for decision-making on the long-term application of phage therapy.

高毒力肺炎克雷伯菌（Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae, HvKP）常见于社区获得性肺炎克雷伯菌感染病例中。近年来，由于其广泛的宿主易感性与多部位感染特性，该菌已严重威胁人类健康。碳青霉烯类耐药肺炎克雷伯菌（Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae）的发现，使得临床抗感染治疗面临巨大挑战。研究人员曾尝试利用噬菌体（phage）应对这一危机，但发现宿主细菌可在短时间内产生噬菌体耐药性，致使噬菌体疗法难以成为稳定且长效的抗菌手段。本研究中，我们分离得到一株噬菌体耐药性高毒力肺炎克雷伯菌菌株，并通过分析多种毒力因子的表达水平，探究噬菌体耐药菌株毒力下降的潜在机制，以期为噬菌体耐药性预测提供理论支撑，同时为噬菌体疗法的长期临床应用决策提供依据。