Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Food Safety and Quality Program, McGill University, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada.
Microbiol Spectr. 2017 Jun;5(3). doi: 10.1128/microbiolspec.PFS-0017-2017.
The era of genomics has allowed for characterization of phages for use as antimicrobials to treat animal infections with a level of precision never before realized. As more research in phage therapy has been conducted, several advantages of phage therapy have been realized, including the ubiquitous nature, specificity, prevalence in the biosphere, and low inherent toxicity of phages, which makes them a safe and sustainable technology for control of animal diseases. These unique qualities of phages have led to several opportunities with respect to emerging trends in infectious disease treatment. However, the opportunities are tempered by several challenges to the successful implementation of phage therapy, such as the fact that an individual phage can only infect one or a few bacterial strains, meaning that large numbers of different phages will likely be needed to treat infections caused by multiple species of bacteria. In addition, phages are only effective if enough of them can reach the site of bacterial colonization, but clearance by the immune system upon introduction to the animal is a reality that must be overcome. Finally, bacterial resistance to the phages may develop, resulting in treatment failure. Even a successful phage infection and lysis of its host has consequences, because large amounts of endotoxin are released upon lysis of Gram-negative bacteria, which can lead to local and systemic complications. Overcoming these challenges will require careful design and development of phage cocktails, including comprehensive characterization of phage host range and assessment of immunological risks associated with phage treatment.
基因组学时代使得可以对噬菌体进行特征描述，以便将其用作治疗动物感染的抗菌药物，其精确程度前所未有。随着噬菌体疗法的研究不断深入，人们已经认识到噬菌体疗法的几个优势，包括噬菌体无处不在的特性、特异性、在生物圈中的普遍性，以及其内在的低毒性，这使得它们成为一种安全且可持续的动物疾病控制技术。噬菌体的这些独特特性为传染病治疗的新兴趋势带来了几个机遇。然而，噬菌体疗法的成功实施也面临着一些挑战，例如单个噬菌体只能感染一种或几种细菌菌株，这意味着需要大量不同的噬菌体才能治疗由多种细菌引起的感染。此外，只有当足够数量的噬菌体能够到达细菌定植部位时，噬菌体才有效，但在引入动物时被免疫系统清除是一个必须克服的现实。最后，细菌可能会对噬菌体产生耐药性，导致治疗失败。即使噬菌体成功感染并裂解其宿主也会产生后果，因为革兰氏阴性菌裂解时会释放大量内毒素，这可能导致局部和全身并发症。克服这些挑战将需要精心设计和开发噬菌体鸡尾酒，包括对噬菌体宿主范围进行全面表征，并评估与噬菌体治疗相关的免疫风险。
