Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium that is increasingly difficult to treat due to the emergence of multidrug resistant strains. In a recent article, Ding et al demonstrate that prekallikrein depletion in mice followed by intranasal instillation of K. pneumoniae leads to a reduced bacterial burden and prolonged host survival, together with evidence of reduced distant organ damage. These effects are apparently independent of the role of prekallikrein in the contact system, and are associated with transcriptional changes relevant to innate immunity in the lung, established prior to infection. This study highlights the importance of further investigating the role of prekallikrein and other contact cascade components in host defence to counter K. pneumoniae (and perhaps other pathogens), with an overall aim of identifying potential therapeutic targets relevant to pulmonary infection with such resistant pathogens. © 2020 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

中文翻译：

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Prekallikrein-肺炎克雷伯菌感染的新兴治疗靶标？†。

肺炎克雷伯氏菌是一种革兰氏阴性细菌，由于多重耐药菌株的出现，越来越难以治疗。在最近的一篇文章中，Ding等人证明小鼠中的前激肽释放酶耗竭，然后鼻内滴入肺炎克雷伯菌，可减少细菌负担，延长宿主存活时间，并有减少远处器官损伤的证据。这些作用显然与前激肽释放酶在接触系统中的作用无关，并且与感染前确定的与肺先天免疫有关的转录变化有关。这项研究强调了进一步研究前激肽释放酶和其他接触级联成分在宿主防御中抵抗肺炎克雷伯菌（以及其他病原体）的作用的重要性，总体目标是确定与此类耐药病原体的肺部感染相关的潜在治疗目标。©2020英国和爱尔兰病理学会。由John Wiley＆Sons，Ltd.出版