Pathology and Microbiology Division, National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad, 500007, India.
Department of Immunology, National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis, Indian Council Of Medical Research, Chennai, 600031, India.
Curr Microbiol. 2022 Feb 7;79(3):89. doi: 10.1007/s00284-021-02754-9.
Viruses that infect bacteria are emerging as attractive biocontrol agents and biopreservatives for foods. Since these bacteriophages kill the target pathogens by lysis and are also consumed along with food, it is essential to evaluate their collateral toxicity on the probiotic gut microbiota. In this study, we examined the acute oral toxicity of a Salmonella phage isolated from sewage in mice. Acute oral administration of the Salmonella phage for five consecutive days did not show any significant pathological changes in the vital organs like lung, kidneys, heart, liver, and intestine. In addition, growth of typical probiotic microbiota remained unaffected even after incubation up to 24 h with the Salmonella phage. The results of this study clearly showed that oral administration of the lytic Salmonella phage did not have any significant adverse effects on the animals, may not harm the probiotic gut microbiota, and are likely to be safe for use in food preservation.
能够感染细菌的病毒正在成为有吸引力的食品生物防治剂和生物防腐剂。由于这些噬菌体通过裂解来杀死目标病原体，并且与食物一起被消耗，因此评估它们对益生菌肠道微生物群的附带毒性至关重要。在这项研究中，我们在小鼠中检查了一种从污水中分离出来的沙门氏菌噬菌体的急性口服毒性。连续五天口服急性沙门氏菌噬菌体不会导致肺、肾、心、肝和肠等重要器官出现任何明显的病理变化。此外，即使与沙门氏菌噬菌体孵育长达 24 小时，典型的益生菌微生物群的生长也不受影响。这项研究的结果清楚地表明，口服裂解沙门氏菌噬菌体对动物没有任何显著的不良影响，可能不会损害益生菌肠道微生物群，并且在食品保存中可能是安全的。
