Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Tirupati, India.
IUBMB Life. 2019 Jul;71(7):781-790. doi: 10.1002/iub.2010. Epub 2019 Jan 23.
Propelled by the overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance is now widespread in the environment, leaving us with limited drugs for treating a large number of resistant pathogens. The use of bacteriophages that kill bacteria has come up as a viable alternative to circumvent the antimicrobial resistance crisis, and phage therapy-based approaches are fast advancing in recent times. In this minireview, we try to describe the advantages associated with phage therapy and update the latest developments in the field including the clinical trials that are underway. Particularly, we highlight the synergistic bactericidal effect of phages in the presence of sub-lethal dose of antibiotics and the potency of lytic phages, and their hydrolytic enzymes in expunging pathogens from drug-tolerant biofilms and animal farm produce. We also discuss how major challenges, including human immune response to phage components, development of bacterial resistance and elimination of intracellular pathogens, presented as potential setbacks to the implementation of phage therapy is being removed using engineered phages and novel formulations. © 2019 IUBMB Life, 2019.
由于抗生素的过度和不当使用，抗菌药物耐药性现在在环境中广泛存在，这使得我们可用于治疗大量耐药病原体的药物有限。使用噬菌体来杀死细菌已成为一种可行的替代方法，可以避免抗菌药物耐药性危机，近年来基于噬菌体治疗的方法正在快速发展。在这篇简评中，我们试图描述噬菌体治疗的相关优势，并更新该领域的最新进展，包括正在进行的临床试验。特别地，我们强调了在亚致死剂量抗生素存在下噬菌体的协同杀菌作用，以及溶菌噬菌体及其水解酶在清除药物耐受生物膜和动物农场产品中的病原体方面的强大作用。我们还讨论了如何使用工程噬菌体和新型制剂来克服噬菌体治疗实施过程中面临的主要挑战，包括人体对噬菌体成分的免疫反应、细菌耐药性的发展以及细胞内病原体的清除。© 2019 IUBMB Life, 2019.
