Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2017 Sep 22;61(10). doi: 10.1128/AAC.02146-16. Print 2017 Oct.
The emergence of drug resistance has rekindled interest in phage therapy as an alternative treatment option; its potency, safety, and proven efficacy are worth noting. However, phage therapy still suffers from issues of poor stability, narrow spectra, and poor pharmacokinetic profiles. Therefore, it is essential to look into the use of drug delivery systems for efficient delivery of lytic phages The present study evaluated the use of nanostructured lipid-based carriers, i.e., transfersomes, as transdermal delivery systems for encapsulating a methicillin-resistant (MRSA) phage cocktail. Furthermore, the therapeutic potential of the encapsulated phage cocktail in resolving experimental soft tissue infections in rats was studied. Results from stability and phage titer experiments indicated that the transfersome-entrapped phage cocktail showed better persistence and stability than did free phages. Rats treated with the transfersome-entrapped phage cocktail resolved the experimental thigh infections within a period of 7 days, unlike the 20-day period required for untreated animals. The findings of the present study support the use of transfersomes as delivery agents to enhance the stability and persistence of the encapsulated phages. In addition, this study highlights the advantages offered by transfersome-encapsulated phages in providing better therapeutic options than free phages for treating skin and soft tissue infections. The transfersome-entrapped phage cocktail was able to protect all test animals (with no deaths) even when administered with a delay of 12 h postinfection, unlike free phages, thus making this treatment option more suitable for clinical settings.
耐药性的出现重新燃起了人们对噬菌体治疗的兴趣，将其作为一种替代治疗选择；其效力、安全性和经过验证的疗效值得注意。然而，噬菌体治疗仍然存在稳定性差、谱窄和药代动力学特征不佳等问题。因此，有必要研究使用药物传递系统来有效传递裂解噬菌体。本研究评估了使用基于纳米结构脂质的载体，即传递体，作为包封耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）噬菌体鸡尾酒的透皮传递系统。此外，还研究了包封噬菌体鸡尾酒在解决大鼠实验性软组织感染中的治疗潜力。稳定性和噬菌体效价实验的结果表明，传递体包封的噬菌体鸡尾酒比游离噬菌体具有更好的持久性和稳定性。用传递体包封的噬菌体鸡尾酒治疗的大鼠在 7 天内解决了实验性大腿感染，而未治疗的动物则需要 20 天。本研究的结果支持使用传递体作为递送剂来增强包封噬菌体的稳定性和持久性。此外，本研究还强调了传递体包封噬菌体在提供比游离噬菌体更好的治疗选择方面的优势，用于治疗皮肤和软组织感染。传递体包封的噬菌体鸡尾酒能够保护所有试验动物（无一死亡），即使在感染后 12 小时延迟给药，也不同于游离噬菌体，因此这种治疗选择更适合临床环境。
