Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae causes infections such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections, necessitating alternative therapies. As an emerging MDR pathogen, evaluating newer therapeutic strategies is essential. This study utilized bacteriophages and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains kindly provided by Dr. John, who previously isolated and characterized broad-host-range bacteriophages from hospital wastewater targeting diverse clinical K. pneumoniae isolates. Among fifteen lytic bacteriophages identified across multiple genera, bacteriophage #418 was selected and purified using ultrafiltration, yielding higher functional titers than PEG-based methods. In vitro assays showed Bacteriophage #418 nearly killed bacteria after 2 hours of co-incubation. Ex vivo studies using healthy donors human macrophages and neutrophils demonstrated significant reductions in intracellular bacteria. In a C57BL/6J mouse model of K.pneumoniae pulmonary infection, bacteriophage #418 significantly reduced lung bacterial loads, with the high dose (MOI-10) showing the strongest effect. These findings identify Bacteriophage #418 as a promising therapeutic candidate and highlight the potential of environmental bacteriophage isolation for combating multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae infections.
Date of publication
Spring 5-8-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Language
english
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5064
Committee members
Dr.Guohua Yi (Thesis Advisor), Dr.Buka Samten (Committee chair), Dr.Monika Kumaraswamy, Dr.Shashi Kant, Dr.Amy Tvinnereim
Degree
Masters in Biotechnology
Recommended Citation
Duggineni, Mounika, "BACTERIOPHAGE THERAPY FOR KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE: PHAGE SCREENING AND EFFICACY ASSESSMENT IN MACROPHAGES/NEUTROPHILS AND MOUSE MODEL" (2026). Biotechnology Theses. Paper 36.
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5064