Bacteriophage Therapy: Recent Developments and Applications of a Renaissance Weapon, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacteriophages".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 2734

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Chełmońskiego 37, 51-630 Wrocław, Poland
Interests: application of bacteriophages in human and veterinary medicine, development of the methods of working with phages; interactions of bacteriophages with bacterial and non-bacterial cells
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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Science, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: bacteriophages

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last century, antibiotic therapy has become the most powerful weapon against bacterial infections. However, time for the universal application of these drugs seems to be running out. The number of new antibiotics being introduced to the market has been consistently decreasing and pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to search for new products due to the high risk of failure. The diminishing potential of pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections is accompanied by an increasing number of antibiotic-resistant or, more broadly, drug-resistant strains. The inevitable need to search for and introduce new methods to combat bacterial infections is becoming unquestionable.

Bacteriophages have been used to treat bacterial infections almost since their discovery at the beginning of the 20th century. However, overshadowed by antibiotics, phage therapy has been marginalized for decades. Nowadays, with the rapidly growing number of drug-resistant bacterial strains, phage therapy is among the most promising alternatives to classical methods of treatment. Moreover, studies on bacterial viruses are not limited to human or veterinary medicine, but are increasingly reaching new fields of biotechnology.

Dr. Aneta Skaradzińska
Dr. Paulina Śliwka
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • bacteriophages
  • phage therapy
  • application of phages
  • antibiotic-resistance
  • antibacterial therapies

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 4568 KiB  
Article
Bacteriophage Therapy on an In Vitro Wound Model and Synergistic Effects in Combination with Beta-Lactam Antibiotics
by Guillermo Santamaría-Corral, John Jairo Aguilera-Correa, Jaime Esteban and Meritxell García-Quintanilla
Antibiotics 2024, 13(9), 800; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13090800 - 24 Aug 2024
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Abstract
One of the primary opportunistic pathogens that can cause a wide range of diseases is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This microorganism can become resistant to practically every antibacterial currently in use, including beta-lactam antibiotics. Its ability to proliferate as biofilm has been linked to, [...] Read more.
One of the primary opportunistic pathogens that can cause a wide range of diseases is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This microorganism can become resistant to practically every antibacterial currently in use, including beta-lactam antibiotics. Its ability to proliferate as biofilm has been linked to, among other things, the failure of antimicrobial therapies. Due to a variety of virulence factors and host immune system modifications, P. aeruginosa is one of the most significant and common bacteria that colonize wounds and burns. A novel therapeutic option for treating these multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections is the combination of antibiotics and bacteriophages. This approach has been linked to improved biofilm penetration, a decreased selection of antibiotic and bacteriophage resistance, and an enhanced antibacterial impact. Combining the F1Pa bacteriophage and beta-lactam antibiotics reduced the viability of the mature biofilm of MDR P. aeruginosa strains and suppressed bacterial growth in vitro. F1Pa critically reduced the amount of biofilm that MDR P. aeruginosa clinical strains formed in the in vitro wound model. These findings highlight the bacteriophage F1Pa’s therapeutic potential as a prophylactic topical treatment against MDR pseudomonal infections in wounds and burns. Full article
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11 pages, 2771 KiB  
Article
Precision Phage Cocktail Targeting Surface Appendages for Biocontrol of Salmonella in Cold-Stored Foods
by Seongok Kim, Bokyung Son, Hyeryen Kim, Hakdong Shin and Sangryeol Ryu
Antibiotics 2024, 13(9), 799; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13090799 - 24 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1259
Abstract
Salmonella enterica is a major food-borne pathogen causing food poisoning. The use of bacteriophages as alternative biocontrol agents has gained renewed interest due to the rising issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We isolated and characterized three phages targeting Salmonella: SPN3US, SPN3UB, and SPN10H. [...] Read more.
Salmonella enterica is a major food-borne pathogen causing food poisoning. The use of bacteriophages as alternative biocontrol agents has gained renewed interest due to the rising issue of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We isolated and characterized three phages targeting Salmonella: SPN3US, SPN3UB, and SPN10H. Morphological and genomic analyses revealed that they belong to the class Caudoviricetes. SPN3UB, SPN3US, and SPN10H specifically target bacterial surface molecules as receptors, including O-antigens of lipopolysaccharides, flagella, and BtuB, respectively. The phages exhibited a broad host range against Salmonella strains, highlighting their potential for use in a phage cocktail. Bacterial challenge assays demonstrated significant lytic activity of the phage cocktail consisting of the three phages against S. typhimurium UK1, effectively delaying the emergence of phage-resistant bacteria. The phage cocktail effectively reduced Salmonella contamination in foods, including milk and pork and chicken meats, during cold storage. These results indicate that a phage cocktail targeting different host receptors could serve as a promising antimicrobial strategy to control Salmonella. Full article
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