Relationships between phagocytosis, mucoid phenotype, and genetic characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates

• Published in: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Main Authors: Francinete Carla Nunes Cavalcanti, Juliana Falcão Rodrigues, Adriane Borges Cabral, Larissa Caina Barbosa de Azarias, Marcos Antônio de Morais Júnior, Célia Maria Machado Barbosa de Castro, Ana Catarina de Souza Lopes
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2019
• Subjects: Klebsiella pneumoniae; Alveolar macrophages; Phagocytosis; Mucoid phenotype; Genetic characteristics; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0089-2019; https://doaj.org/article/d4479f651d4c42758a9695de926311a8

Abstract INTRODUCTION The relationships between phagocytosis, and mucoid phenotype, plasmid profile and virulence, and resistance genetic characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical isolates were evaluated. METHODS Thirty isolates were used to determine the mucoid aspect. Four were selected for analysis of phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages. RESULTS Thirty percent of the samples presented the mucoid phenotype. The phagocytosis rate ranged from 21.5% to 43.43%. Phagocytosis was not correlated with the plasmid profile, but was apparently correlated with mucoid phenotype and antibiotic susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: Several virulence factors act in parallel in K. pneumoniae to impair host defense.