Abstract
Bacterial infectious diseases cause serious harm to human health. At present, antibiotics are the main drugs used in the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases, but the abuse of antibiotics has led to the rapid increase in drug-resistant bacteria and to the inability to effectively control infections. Bacteriophages are a kind of virus that infects bacteria and archaea, adopting bacteria as their hosts. The use of bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents in the treatment of bacterial diseases is an alternative to antibiotics. At present, phage therapy (PT) has been used in various fields and has provided a new technology for addressing diseases caused by bacterial infections in humans, animals, and plants. PT uses bacteriophages to infect pathogenic bacteria so to stop bacterial infections and treat and prevent related diseases. However, PT has several limitations, due to a narrow host range, the lysogenic phenomenon, the lack of relevant policies, and the lack of pharmacokinetic data. The development of reasonable strategies to overcome these limitations is essential for the further development of this technology. This review article described the current applications and limitations of PT and summarizes the existing solutions for these limitations. This information will be useful for clinicians, people working in agriculture and industry, and basic researchers.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization, more than 25% of deaths worldwide are caused by infectious diseases, and bacteria account for 38% of human pathogens [1,2]
Antibiotics are mainly used to treat bacterial infectious diseases, but the abuse of antibiotics has led to the rapid increase of drug-resistant bacteria, especially multi-drug-resistant bacteria
phage therapy (PT) must be achieved by lytic phages which must be highly purified to eliminate the immune effects of the infected lysogenic bacteria on similar bacteriophages
Summary
Bacterial infectious diseases seriously endanger human health. According to the World Health Organization, more than 25% of deaths worldwide are caused by infectious diseases, and bacteria account for 38% of human pathogens [1,2]. Antibiotics are mainly used to treat bacterial infectious diseases, but the abuse of antibiotics has led to the rapid increase of drug-resistant bacteria, especially multi-drug-resistant bacteria (bacteria that are simultaneously resistant to three or more kinds of antibiotics used in the clinic). Due to the inability to effectively control infections by multi-drug-resistant bacteria, this has become a serious problem in clinical treatment. The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics exerts a heavy economic burden and causes huge health problems in the society; it is imperative to explore new ways to target multi-drug-resistant bacteria [6].
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