Acinetobacter baumannii and A. pittii clinical isolates lack adherence and cytotoxicity to lung epithelial cells in vitro.

The molecular and genetic basis of Acinetobacter baumannii and Acinetobacter pittii virulence remains poorly understood, and there is still lack of knowledge in host cell response to these bacteria. In this study, we have used eleven clinical Acinetobacter strains (A. baumannii n = 5; A. pittii n = 6) to unravel bacterial adherence, invasion and cytotoxicity to human lung epithelial cells. Our results showed that adherence to epithelial cells by Acinetobacter strains is scarce and cellular invasion was not truly detected. In addition, all Acinetobacter strains failed to induce any cytotoxic effect on A549 cells.