S. Chhibber et J. Bajaj, POLYSACCHARIDE-IRON-REGULATED CELL-SURFACE PROTEIN CONJUGATE VACCINE - ITS ROLE IN PROTECTION AGAINST KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE-INDUCED LOBAR PNEUMONIA, Vaccine, 13(2), 1995, pp. 179-184
Klebsiella pneumoniae has become an important cause of both community-
acquired and nosocomial infections. In this study an attempt was made
to study the immunogenicity of iron-regulated cell surface proteins (I
RCSP) alone or in conjunction with the polysaccharide moiety of lipopo
lysaccharide (LPS) of K. pneumoniae. The polysaccharide-iron-regulated
cell surface protein conjugate (PS-IRCSP) was non-toxic and non-pyrog
enic. It was found to be immunogenic and the protection afforded by th
e conjugate against the challenge strain was observed in a rat lobar p
neumonia model. The protection observed with the conjugate was higher
than that observed with polysaccharide or IRCSP alone. The conjugate e
licited both agglutinating and bactericidal antibodies. Enhanced phago
cytosis was observed for the alveolar macrophages obtained from the lu
ngs of animals treated with conjugate compared with macrophages obtain
ed from animals treated with other antigenic preparations.