Predatory Bacteria Attenuate Klebsiella pneumoniae Burden in Rat Lungs
Abstract
Bdellovibrio bacteriovorusandMicavibrio aeruginosavorusare predatory bacteria that naturally—and obligately—prey on other Gram-negative bacteria, and their use has been proposed as a potential new approach to control microbial infection. The ability of predatory bacteria to prey on Gram-negative human pathogensin vitrois well documented; however, thein vivosafety and efficacy of predatory bacteria have yet to be fully assessed. In this study, we examined whether predatory bacteria can reduce bacterial burden in the lungs in anin vivomammalian system. Initial safety studies were performed by intranasal inoculation of rats with predatory bacteria. No adverse effects or lung pathology were observed in rats exposed to high concentrations of predatory bacteria at up to 10 days postinoculation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of the immune response revealed a slight increase in inflammatory cytokine levels at 1 h postinoculation that was not sustained by 48 h. Additionally, dissemination experiments showed that predators were efficiently cleared from the host by 10 days postinoculation. To measure the ability of predatory bacteria to reduce microbial burdenin vivo, we introduced sublethal concentrations ofKlebsiella pneumoniaeinto the lungs of rats via intranasal inoculation and followed with multiple doses of predatory bacteria over 24 h. Predatory bacteria were able to reduceK. pneumoniaebacterial burden, on average, by more than 3.0 log10in the lungs of most rats as measured by CFU plating. The work presented here provides further support for the idea of developing predatory bacteria as a novel biocontrol agent.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 30, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1128/mbio.01847-16
Entities
People
- Chi Tang
- Daniel E. Kadouri
- Eric Singleton
- Joseph Rinaggio
- Kenneth Shatzkes
- Michael Zuena
- Nancy D. Connell
- Onoyom Onyile
- Sean Shukla
- Shilpi Gupta
- Sonal Dharani
Organizations
- New Jersey Medical School
- Rutgers School of Dental Medicine