Bacteriophage-mediated decolonization of Klebsiella pneumoniae in a novel Galleria mellonella gut colonization model with Enterobacteriaceae

Abstract

Galleria mellonella larvae have emerged as an invertebrate model for investigating bacterial pathogenesis and potential therapies, addressing ethical concerns related to mammalian models. This model has the advantage of having a simple gut microbiome, which is suitable for gut colonization studies. Intestinal colonization by Enterobacteriaceae significantly contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to establish a novel Enterobacteriaceae gut colonization larval model and assess its suitability for evaluating distinct antimicrobial efficacies. Larvae were force-fed sequentially with bacterial doses of K. pneumoniae and E. coli at 0, 24, and 48 h, with survival monitoring at 24 h intervals. Bacterial counts were assessed after 48 h and 120 h of force-feeding. Successfully colonized larvae were subjected to one-time force feeding of a bacteriophage cocktail (10⁷ PFU/larvae) or MIC-based meropenem and ciprofloxacin. The colonized bacterial load was quantified by CFU count. Three doses of 10⁶ CFU/larvae resulted in stable gut colonization, independent of the K. pneumoniae or E. coli strain. Compared with the control, force-feeding of the bacteriophage reduced the colonization of the strain Kp 419614 by 5 log₁₀ CFU/larvae, while antibiotic treatment led to a 3 log₁₀ CFU/larval reduction. This novel G. mellonella model provides a valuable alternative for gut colonization studies, facilitating proof-of-concept investigations and potentially reducing or replacing follow-up experiments in vertebrate models.