Institut Pasteur, Molecular Biology of the Gene in Extremophiles Unit, Department of Microbiology, Paris, France.
Adv Virus Res. 2012;83:123-41. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394438-2.00004-9.
The regular increase of drug-resistant pathogens has been a major force in the renewed interest in the use of bacteriophages as therapeutics. In addition to experience acquired in eastern Europe where bacteriophages have been used to treat bacterial infections in humans, in Western countries only experimental models have been developed until recently. The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing particularly severe infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Several experimental models in mice have yielded encouraging results for the use of bacteriophages to treat or prevent septicemia, skin and lungs infections caused by P. aeruginosa. Now, a phase II clinical trial conducted in the United Kingdom provides evidence for the efficacy of bacteriophage treatments in chronic otitis due to antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa strains. Together with experimental models, these results provide an incentive to develop more research and clinical studies to fully appreciate the benefits of the use of bacteriophages in medicine.
耐药病原体的不断增加是人们重新关注噬菌体作为治疗药物的主要原因。除了在东欧使用噬菌体治疗人类细菌感染方面获得的经验外，直到最近，西方国家才开发出实验模型。革兰氏阴性菌铜绿假单胞菌是一种机会性病原体，会导致囊性纤维化患者的感染特别严重。在小鼠中进行的几项实验模型为使用噬菌体治疗或预防败血症、由铜绿假单胞菌引起的皮肤和肺部感染提供了令人鼓舞的结果。现在，英国进行的一项 II 期临床试验为噬菌体治疗对抗生素耐药铜绿假单胞菌引起的慢性中耳炎的疗效提供了证据。这些结果与实验模型一起，为开展更多的研究和临床研究提供了动力，以充分了解噬菌体在医学中的应用的好处。
