Abstract
Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses, capable of killing even multi-drug resistant bacterial cells. For this reason, therapeutic use of phages is considered as a possible alternative to conventional antibiotics. However, phages are very host specific in comparison to wide-spectrum antibiotics and thus preparation of phage-cocktails beforehand against pathogens can be difficult. In this study, we evaluate whether it may be possible to isolate phages on-demand from environmental reservoir. We attempted to enrich infectious bacteriophages from sewage against nosocomial drug-resistant bacterial strains of different medically important species in order to evaluate the probability of discovering novel therapeutic phages. Stability and host-range were determined for the acquired phages. Our results suggest that on-demand isolation of phages is possible against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella and extended spectrum beta-lactamase Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The probability of finding suitable phages was less than 40% against vancomycin resistant Enterococcus and Acinetobacter baumannii strains. Furthermore, isolation of new phages against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains was found to be very difficult.
Highlights
Antibiotic resistance is an emerging global health crisis, resulting from the continuous use of antibiotics in healthcare, farming industry, and elsewhere (Cantas et al, 2013; World Health Organization [WHO], 2014)
We provide an evaluation of the ondemand isolation of phages against the most common hospital borne resistant pathogens: methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) E. coli and K. pneumoniae, multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa, vancomycin resistant Enterococcus (VRE), A. baumannii and different Salmonella species
We evaluated the feasibility for generating a personalized phage-product on-demand against different bacterial pathogens
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is an emerging global health crisis, resulting from the continuous use (and misuse) of antibiotics in healthcare, farming industry, and elsewhere (Cantas et al, 2013; World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). Phage therapy refers to the utilization of bacteriophages (or just phages, viruses infecting bacteria) to treat bacterial diseases (Abedon et al, 2011). Given the increasing number of drug-resistant bacterial infections, especially within hospital settings, the exploration of alternatives to conventional antibiotics has become an important research objective (Finch, 2011; Sommer and Dantas, 2011). Bacteriophages are very abundant (Hendrix et al, 1999) and every bacterium is likely to have their own specific viruses that could be utilized as antibacterial agents (Clokie et al, 2011; Flores et al, 2011; Örmälä and Jalasvuori, 2013). The discovery of broadly effective antibiotics led to the demise of the development of phage therapy in western countries and only as the antibiotics are starting to fail there has been a serious attempt to restore the old tool. The second coming of phage therapy faces challenges regarding
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
