Advantages and Limitations of Bacteriophages for the Treatment of Bacterial Infections

Abstract

Bacteriophages (BPs) are viruses that can infect and kill bacteria without any negative effect on human or animal cells. For this reason, it is supposed that they can be used, alone or in combination with antibiotics, to treat bacterial infections. In this narrative review, the advantages and limitations of BPs for use in humans will be discussed. PubMed was used to search for all of the studies published from January 2008 to December 2018 using the key words: “BPs” or “phages” and “bacterial infection” or “antibiotic” or “infectious diseases.” More than 100 articles were found, but only those published in English or providing evidence-based data were included in the evaluation. Literature review showed that the rapid rise of multi-drug-resistant bacteria worldwide coupled with a decline in the development and production of novel antibacterial agents have led scientists to consider BPs for treatment of bacterial infection. Use of BPs to overcome the problem of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is attractive, and some research data seem to indicate that it might be a rational measure. However, present knowledge seems insufficient to allow the use of BPs for this purpose. To date, the problem of how to prepare the formulations for clinical use and how to avoid or limit the risk of emergence of bacterial resistance through the transmission of genetic material are not completely solved problems. Further studies specifically devoted to solve these problems are needed before BPs can be used in humans.

Biofilms Formed by Pathogens in Food and Food Processing Environments

“…Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacterial cells. They use the genetic machinery of their host cells to replicate, killing bacteria when reaching a sufficiently high number to produce lysis [92]. They are abundantly encountered anywhere host bacteria live [93] and, therefore, their potential is presently harnessed as natural antimicrobial agents to control pathogenic bacteria in food products and food-related environments [94].…”

An exegesis of bacteriophage therapy: An emerging player in the fight against anti-microbial resistance

“…Félix d'Herelle eventually, through his collaboration with Georgian scientist George Eliava, established the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage Microbiology and Virology (IBMV) in Tbilisi, Georgia in 1933, a facility that has developed into one of the most reputable bacteriophage therapy research centers in the world [6] . However, most of their works were written in Russian, and even after being translated into English, many of the results were rejected by the Western world as they were perceived to incompliant with international standards of safety [7] . While this did little to deter their work, d'Herelle and Eliava continued to isolate and characterize new bacteriophages, developing several therapeutic preparations which were sent to clinicians in different parts of the world, but their use was associated with very mixed results and low success rates.…”

Computationally-guided technology platform for on-demand production of diversified therapeutic phage cocktails

“…Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacterial species, and are regarded as the natural predators of bacteria (5). For use in treating bacterial infections phages hold numerous advantages, including vast natural diversity, low cost, high specificity (such that microbiomes are left intact), and proliferation in situ (amplifying and sustaining therapeutic effects) (6). Therapeutic cocktails are generally composed of virulent phages (capable only of the lytic life cycle) isolated from environmental samples.…”