Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance and Developments in Therapeutic Strategies to Combat Klebsiella pneumoniae Infection

Infections with drug-resistant bacteria have become one of the greatest public health challenges, and K. pneumoniae is among the top six drug-resistant bacteria. K. pneumoniae often causes nosocomial infections, leading to illnesses such as pneumonia, liver abscesses, soft tissue infections, urinary tract infections, bacteremia, and in some cases death. As the pathogen continues to evolve and its multidrug resistance increases, K. pneumoniae poses a direct threat to humans. Drug resistance in K. pneumoniae may occur due to the formation of biofilms, efflux pumps, and the production of β-lactamases. In many cases, resistance is further enhanced by enzymatic modification and loss of porins. Drug resistance to K. pneumoniae has led to a decline in the effectiveness of conventional therapies against this pathogen. Therefore, there is an urgent need to accelerate the development of new antibiotics and explore new therapeutic approaches such as antimicrobial peptides, phages, traditional Chinese medicine, immunotherapy, Antimicrobial nanoparticle technology, antisense oligonucleotides and gene editing technologies. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of drug resistance in K. pneumoniae and compare several new potential therapeutic strategies to overcome drug resistance in the treatment of K. pneumoniae infections.