ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular and Structural Strategies for Novel Antimicrobials and Host-Pathogen-Microbiota InteractionsView all 3 articles
Ferroptosis-Mediated Intestinal Decolonization of Klebsiella pneumoniae Using Fe/PPy Nanomaterials under Near-Infrared Light
Provisionally accepted
- 1Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- 2Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- 3Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China
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Klebsiella pneumoniae(KP) is a Gram-negative bacterium with a thick capsule that confers natural drug resistance,making it a common opportunistic pathogen. In recent years, the spread of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae(hvKP) and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae(CR-KP) strains has created major treatment challenges. Among these, of particular concern is carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae(CR-hvKP), which combines both hypervirulence and carbapenem resistance. This strain can persistently colonize the gut, facilitating resistance gene spread and causing bacterial translocation with subsequent infections. CR-hvKP has now become a key pathogen in both hospital and community settings. Traditional antibiotic treatments often lead to the emergence of bacterial resistance, necessitating the development of novel antimicrobial strategies. This study introduces an iron-polypyrrole nanocomposite (Fe/PPy) designed to leverage an innovative mechanism of ferroptosis-induced bacterial killing. The nanomaterial possesses intrinsic Fenton reaction activity. Moreover, its photothermal conversion efficiency exceeding 85%. Under 1064 nm near-infrared(NIR) light, it's photothermal effect significantly enhances the Fenton reaction efficiency, thereby effectively catalyzing the conversion of bacterial endogenous H₂O₂ into reactive oxygen species(ROS), thereby inducing bacterial lipid peroxidation and achieving targeted bacterial killing via the ferroptosis pathway. The excellent tissue penetration of 1064 nm NIR light enables this material to act precisely on deep-seated infectious lesions, achieving in vivo antibacterial efficacy. Experimental results demonstrate that Fe/PPy nanomaterials exhibit high antimicrobial efficacy and safety against KP without readily inducing bacterial resistance. This study provides a novel nanodrug design approach for the clinical treatment of KP infections, offering significant translational potential in the field of anti-infective therapy.
Keywords: ferroptosis, Intestinaldecolonization, Klebsiellapneumoniae, Near-infraredlight, Reactive Oxygen Species
Received: 19 Nov 2025; Accepted: 05 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhang, Yan, Zhang, Shi, Wu, Zhang, Gu, Tang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rong Zhang
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