Abstract
Antibiotic resistance remains as an unresolved global challenge in the health care system, posing serious threats to global health. As an alternative to antibiotics, bacteriophage (phage) therapy is rising as a key to combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. In order to deliver a phage to the site of infection, hydrogels have been formulated to incorporate phages, owing to its favorable characteristics in delivering biological molecules. This paper reviews the formulation of phage-delivering hydrogels for orthopedic implant-associated bone infection, catheter-associated urinary tract infection and trauma-associated wound infection, with a focus on the preparation methods, stability, efficacy and safety of hydrogels as phage carriers.
Highlights
Bacteria are developing resistance against commercial antibiotics at an alarming rate, and antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, contributing to rise in morbidity and mortality [1,2]
Bacteriophage therapy is being reconsidered as a potential alternative or adjunctive therapy to conventional antibiotics due to its ability to treat infections associated with MDR bacteria [4]
This review focuses on the formulation of phages as an active ingredient in hydrogel formulations
Summary
Bacteria are developing resistance against commercial antibiotics at an alarming rate, and antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, contributing to rise in morbidity and mortality [1,2]. Phage therapy holds promising potential to help ease the burden of MDR bacterial infections. Hydrogels have been used as a vehicle to enable controlled delivery or administration of biologics such as phages to the target site of interest, including wounds [26,27,28] and implants [29,30,31]. Alginate is a natural polymer that can form hydrogels with good biodegradability and biocompatibility, low toxicity and ease of gelation It is widely used in commercial wound dressing, as it facilitates wound healing while minimizing bacterial infections. Injectable alginate hydrogels have been reported as a strategy to locally deliver phages for preventing and/or treating orthopedic implant-associated infections [29,31]
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