University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
Poult Sci. 2013 Apr;92(4):930-4. doi: 10.3382/ps.2012-02916.
Bacteriophages are viruses that kill bacteria. They are plentiful in nature with no known activity in human or animal cells, making them an attractive alternative to antibiotics. The objective of this research was to determine if a coarse or a fine spray of bacteriophage would prevent colibacillosis induced by an intratracheal (IT) challenge with Escherichia coli. Two studies were conducted with 6 treatments: untreated control, birds treated with a spray administration of bacteriophage and not challenged, birds administered bacteriophage IT and not challenged, birds not treated and challenged IT with E. coli, birds sprayed with bacteriophage and IT challenged with E. coli, and birds administered bacteriophage IT and challenged IT with E. coli. There were 3 replicate pens of 10 birds per pen, per treatment, and all treatments were administered at 1 d of age. Study 1 was concluded when the birds were 19 d of age, and study 2 was concluded when the birds were 21 d of age. In both studies, neither a coarse nor a fine spray protected the birds from an IT E. coli challenge; however, when bacteriophage was administered IT there was complete protection. This research demonstrates the necessity for the administration of bacteriophage therapeutics to deliver high bacteriophage titers to the site of a bacterial infection.
噬菌体是一种能够杀死细菌的病毒。它们在自然界中大量存在，对人类或动物细胞没有已知的活性，因此成为抗生素的一种有吸引力的替代品。本研究的目的是确定粗喷雾或细喷雾的噬菌体是否可以预防大肠杆菌气管内（IT）攻毒引起的大肠杆菌病。进行了两项研究，共 6 种处理：未处理的对照组、用噬菌体喷雾处理但未攻毒的鸟类、用噬菌体 IT 处理但未攻毒的鸟类、未处理且用大肠杆菌 IT 攻毒的鸟类、用噬菌体喷雾处理且用大肠杆菌 IT 攻毒的鸟类、用噬菌体 IT 处理且用大肠杆菌 IT 攻毒的鸟类。每个处理有 3 个重复笼，每个笼有 10 只鸟。所有处理均在 1 日龄时进行。研究 1 于鸟类 19 日龄时结束，研究 2 于鸟类 21 日龄时结束。在两项研究中，粗喷雾或细喷雾都不能保护鸟类免受 IT 大肠杆菌攻毒的影响；然而，当噬菌体 IT 给药时，完全保护了鸟类。这项研究表明，有必要对噬菌体治疗剂进行给药，以将高噬菌体滴度输送到细菌感染部位。
