Fig. 6: The role of a healthy microbiome in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) decolonization.

A Experimental design for effects of antibiotics on CRKP colonization in vivo. The abundance of CRKP in the gut of mice was monitored by comparing different antibiotic treatments. The posttreatment group (PstTret group, showed in blue color): Mice were first treated with PBS for 10 days, followed by meropenem (MEM) treatment for 23 days; The intermittent treatment group (InterTret group, showed in green color): Mice were treated with MEM for 3 days before introducing K. pneumoniae 020003, then MEM was removed until day 11, at which point MEM treatment was resupplied. The pretreatment group (PreTret group, showed in red color): Mice were treated with MEM for 3 days before introducing K. pneumoniae 020003, with MEM treatment continuing until day 11, after which MEM was removed. The abundance of CRKP in mouse feces was measured daily. B CRKP abundance in feces in different groups during days 5–33. C Experimental design for effects of fecal transplantation (FMT) on CRKP decolonization in vivo. Control group (Ctl, showed in grayish blue): Mice was feeded to provide healthy fecal samples for FMT group during experiment. Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS group, showed in purple): Mice were first treated with MEM for 14 days, 200 ul PBS was gavaged during days 8–28 as negative control. FMT group (showed in pink): Mice were first treated with MEM for 14 days, 200 ul FMT from the Ctl group was gavaged during days 8–28. About 200 μL of 1.0 × 10⁵ CFU/ml K. pneumoniae 020003 was gavaged on day 8. D CRKP abundance in feces in different groups during days 9–28.