Publications by authors named "Sheng-Kung Chiu"
Article Synopsis
- The study compared the virulence of two hypervirulent K. pneumoniae types: serotype K1/K2 and ST11, using various lab tests on 29 bacterial isolates.
- Despite similar virulence gene profiles, ST11 strains demonstrated lower serum resistance and were unable to cause lethality in mice, whereas K1 and K2 strains were lethal at lower concentrations.
- The findings suggest that distinguishing between these strains based on virulence levels in animal models could help clarify the classification of HvKp strains.
Background: The virulence role of surface antigens in a single serotype of Klebsiella pneumoniae strain have been studied, but little is known about whether their contribution will vary with serotype.
Method: To investigate the role of K and O antigen in hyper-virulent strains, we constructed O and K antigen deficient mutants from serotype K1 STL43 and K2 TSGH strains from patients with liver abscess, and characterized their virulence in according to the abscess formation and resistance to neutrophil phagocytosis, serum, and bacterial clearance in liver.
Results: Both of K1 and K2-antigen mutants lost their wildtype resistance to neutrophil phagocytosis and hepatic clearance, and failed to cause abscess formation.