Novel antimicrobial strategy: native postbiotics synergize with antibiotics to overcome resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae

This study explored the potential of postbiotics—metabolites produced by probiotic bacteria—as allies in the fight against antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Researchers screened 88 native Lactobacillus strains and found that postbiotics from four of them, when combined with low doses of antibiotics like amoxicillin or imipenem, completely eliminated multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae. Gene analyses showed that while postbiotics alone sometimes triggered resistance genes, their combination with antibiotics strongly suppressed or silenced these genes. The findings suggest that postbiotics could serve as powerful adjunct therapies to restore antibiotic effectiveness against resistant infections.