Fernández Lucía, Gutiérrez Diana, García Pilar, Rodríguez Ana
Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias (IPLA-CSIC), (DairySafe Group), Paseo Río Linares s/n -Villaviciosa, 33300 Asturias, Spain.
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), 33011 Oviedo, Spain.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2019 Aug 23;8(3):126. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics8030126.
The alarming spread of multiresistant infections has kick-started the quest for alternative antimicrobials. In a way, given the steady increase in untreatable infectious diseases, success in this endeavor has become a matter of life and death. Perhaps we should stop searching for an antibacterial panacea and explore a multifaceted strategy in which a wide range of compounds are available on demand depending on the specific situation. In the context of this novel tailor-made approach to combating bacterial pathogens, the once forgotten phage therapy is undergoing a revival. Indeed, the compassionate use of bacteriophages against seemingly incurable infections has been attracting a lot of media attention lately. However, in order to take full advantage of this strategy, bacteria's natural predators must be taken from their environment and then carefully selected to suit our needs. In this review, we have explored the vast literature regarding phage isolation and characterization for therapeutic purposes, paying special attention to the most recent studies, in search of findings that hint at the most efficient strategies to identify suitable candidates. From this information, we will list and discuss the traits that, at the moment, are considered particularly valuable in phages destined for antimicrobial therapy applications. Due to the growing importance given to biofilms in the context of bacterial infections, we will dedicate a specific section to those characteristics that indicate the suitability of a bacteriophage as an antibiofilm agent. Overall, the objective is not just to have a large collection of phages, but to have the best possible candidates to guarantee elimination of the target pathogens.
多重耐药感染的惊人传播已启动了对替代抗菌药物的探索。从某种程度上说，鉴于无法治疗的传染病不断增加，这项努力的成功已成为生死攸关的问题。也许我们应该停止寻找抗菌万灵药，转而探索一种多方面的策略，即根据具体情况按需提供多种化合物。在这种针对细菌病原体的新型量身定制方法的背景下，一度被遗忘的噬菌体疗法正在复兴。事实上，噬菌体针对看似无法治愈的感染的同情性使用最近吸引了大量媒体关注。然而，为了充分利用这一策略，必须从环境中获取细菌的天然捕食者，然后仔细挑选以满足我们的需求。在这篇综述中，我们探索了关于用于治疗目的的噬菌体分离和表征的大量文献，特别关注最新研究，以寻找暗示识别合适候选者最有效策略的发现。根据这些信息，我们将列出并讨论目前在用于抗菌治疗应用的噬菌体中被认为特别有价值的特征。由于在细菌感染背景下生物膜的重要性日益增加，我们将专门用一个章节来讨论那些表明噬菌体作为抗生物膜剂适用性的特征。总体而言，目标不仅仅是拥有大量噬菌体，而是拥有尽可能最佳的候选者以确保消除目标病原体。
