The role of opsonophagocytosis in killing of <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> in human blood.

ABSTRACT: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic, gram-negative pathogen causing life-threatening sepsis in patients with co-morbidity. In contrast, in healthy persons, K. pneumoniae rarely causes sepsis. To elucidate how K. pneumoniae is eliminated from normal human blood, eleven K. pneumoniae sepsis isolates were analysed. Most of the isolates were serum-resistant. They solely activated the alternative pathway (AP), and only iC3b was present on their surface due to a rapid cleavage of C3b. Despite serum resistance, all isolates were killed in normal blood. To analyse the mechanism of uptake, two isolates (serum-resistant HA391 and partially resistant HA569) were transfected with a plasmid encoding red fluorescent protein, added to whole blood, analysed by flow cytome

SUBMITTER: Hymoller CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12356408 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature