Title:Bacteriophages as Therapeutic Agents: Alternatives to Antibiotics
Volume: 15
Issue: 1
Author(s): Safia Samir *
Affiliation:
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza,Egypt
Keywords:
Bacterial infection, antibiotic therapy, antibiotic resistance, bacteriophage therapy, staphylococcus,
phage.
Abstract: Bacteriophages are bacterio-specific viruses that constitute the main
portion of the environment. Bacteriophages inject their genome into the targeted
bacterial cells and some of them can disrupt the metabolism of bacteria and
cause bacterial cell disintegration. The application of bacteriophages to kill bacteria
is known as bacteriophage therapy. Since bacteriophages target bacteria and
are strain-specific, every bacteriophage/bacterial host pair is unique. They are believed
to cause no harm to humans. An additional advantage of the strain-specific
nature of bacteriophages is that they do not disrupt the beneficial natural flora
in the body. Bacteriophage therapy in the West is not a recognized medicine at
this time, and no products are registered. Some clinicians are turning to bacteriophage
therapy for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections. Lack of adverse
effects makes bacteriophage therapy ideal for use. Funding research, media attention,
and the increased publication of articles helped in a widespread understanding
of its therapeutic potential. The first prerequisite for the use of bacteriophage
therapy is simply the availability of bacteriophages for treatment, which is often
complicated at this stage of bacteriophage production. This includes providing access
to all biologically active bacteriophages against the bacterial isolate of the
patient and meeting regulatory criteria of purity, traceability, and characterization.
A monophage preparation, which is a single bacteriophage, or a phage cocktail,
which consists of a number of combined bacteriophages against one or more
bacterial species may be used. Accordingly, the antibiotic resistance crisis
brought back bacteriophage therapy as a potential complementary or alternative
treatment. Bacteriophages are promising cheap antibacterials.
