The aim of this blog is to publish up-to-date information about phage therapy, phage biology and related researches. Phages are viruses which are able to infect various species of bacteria. They are highly specific for the host bacterium, therefore, they exert minimal effect on the environment. Such kind of bacteria could be killed by phages which are resistant against the most (or all) antibiotics (e.g. MRSA, VRSA). We publish also related information (regarding research activities of our phage therapeutic laboratory) on our other website: http://www.phage.hu (also available in English). We hope that we can provide you useful information.
Bacteriophage Therapy
Agent Of The Future
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The biggest problem about starting a blog about phage therapy is that people will always start at the beginning rather than say this is what we know now. I recently wrote a paper that is designed to quickly allow people to get the latest papers on the subject:
http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2010/12/guest-blog-phage-therapy-other.html
eFoodAlert.com
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2010
Guest Blog: Phage Therapy – The Other Antibiotic Treatment
by G.W. (Bill) Riedel, PhD, MCIC
If I suggested that a cure for the cholera outbreak in Haiti could be found in the same rivers thought to be responsible for the outbreak in the first place, most people would consider me crazy. But they’d be wrong.
In 1896 the British bacteriologist, Ernest Hankin discovered marked antibacterial activity – against Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera – in the waters of the Ganges and Jumna rivers in India. He suggested that an unidentified substance (which passed through fine porcelain filters and was destroyed by heat) was responsible for this phenomenon and for limiting the spread of cholera epidemics.
It wasn’t until 1917, though, that French-Canadian microbiologist Felix D’Herelle – working at the Pasteur Institute – realized that the antibacterial activity discovered by Hankin was due to viruses that preyed on bacteria. D’Herelle named these viruses “bacteriophages” (phages for short).
Bacteriophages are viruses that are parasitic to bacteria and cannot multiply independently. Each phage can only infect a specific bacterial host, as it has to be able to link with special structures on the surface of the bacterial cell. Once attached, the phage injects its DNA into the host cell. The phage DNA hijacks the reproductive mechanism of the bacterial cell, causing the infected bacterium to produce 50 to 200 daughter phages in as little as 30 minutes. Finally, the infected cell bursts – releasing the new crop of phages and starting another cycle of infection and phage reproduction.
Prior to the discovery of the electron microscope in 1940, no one could see bacteriophages, even with high-powered conventional microscopes. Early studies of phage behavior and reproduction depended on adding phages to liquid cultures in which bacteria had grown, and observing the clearing of the turbid broth and destruction of the bacteria. In other experiments, scientists observed and counted clear zones in layers of bacterial growth on solid culture media.
Soon after he discovered and named bacteriophages, D’Herelle began to experiment with the possibility of using phages to cure, and even prevent, bacterial infections. The fruits of his efforts survive to this day in Tbilisi, Georgia at the Phage Therapy Center, which welcomes patients from all over the world.
In Poland, at The Hirszfeld Institute and of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, phage therapy is carried out under medical experimentation, ethical and compassionate use regulatory provisions similar to those that exist in most countries. A broad range of infections have been treated since the initial anti-staphylococcal treatment in 1925. The Institute requires that all patients treated must have previously been treated – unsuccessfully – with conventional methods such as antibiotics. Since the 1980s, their work with phages has been published in English language scientific journals. Very high success rates – 85% on average – have been obtained for infections caused by bacteria such as Escherichia, Klebsiella, Proteus, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, and Staphylococcus aureus. Their success rates for treating Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA strains, have been reported to be even higher than 85%.
Phage biology was not well understood in D’Herelle’s time, and results from early attempts at phage therapy treatments were inconsistent. Once antibiotics appeared, interest in phage therapy in the West waned – until antibiotic-resistance and superbugs rekindled research efforts. As of this writing, Phase I trials of phage therapy treatments are being planned or have been completed in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia and India.
In the USA, “phage therapy” (a.k.a. biocontrol) has received the most attention – and the greatest acceptance – in non-clinical applications. The FDA recognizes a bacteriophage preparation made by Intralytix as a safe antimicrobial for control of Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products. Another phage preparation, Agriphage, a phage product that is commercially available from Omnilytics, is used primarily to treat bacterial damage of tomatoes and peppers, and has been recognized as being compatible with organic food production. The status of clinical phage therapy in the US was laid out clearly in a March 31, 2009 Popular Science article, The Next Phage.
Is it absurd that phage biocontrol products are accepted in the West for prevention or treatment of contamination in food, but not available to patients suffering from antibiotic-resistant infections? I, for one, think so. If you are interested in learning more and forming your own opinion, the following resources will be helpful.
• Thomas Haeusler. 2006. Viruses vs. Superbugs, a solution to the antibiotics crisis?
• Monk, et al. 2010. Bacteriophage applications: where are we now? Letters in Applied Microbiology, 51, 363-369.
• Kutter, et al. 2010. Phage therapy in clinical practice: Treatment of human infections, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, 11, 69-86.
• Bacteriophages in the Control of Food- and Waterborne Pathogens, Editors: Parviz M. Sabour and Mansel W. Griffiths, ASM Press, 2010.
• Killer Cure: The Amazing Adventures of Bacteriophage (Canadian-made movie)
Posted by Bill Riedel | May 8, 2011, 9:17 pmDr. Reidel, I am astounded to read a review article in a blog post. Well written, Hats off…! I am Dr. Jeremiah, Microbiologist from India currently studying on antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. I would like to specialize my study on phage therapy. Can you recommend and institution which offers a PhD in the same?
Posted by Jeremiah Stanley | January 3, 2012, 2:48 amDr. Riedel, My name is Carissa McConnell, Tampa, FL & I was successfully treated in Tbilisi, Rep. Georgia for chronic MRSA colonized in a large smooth chest wall plate back in 5/2011. Before phage, I underwent 1 1/2 years of IV antibiotics, hyperbaric oxygen tx, wound vac tx, and pure hell of constant intense pain, severe anemia & chronic short of breath/bronchitic all caused by the massive infection. Removed the device was NOT an option without chancing “permanent flail chest”. Pre & post phage MRI films CLEARLY confirm eradication of infection in surrounding tissues. It appeared after a failed masectomy reconstruction surgery. I had gaping chest wounds which closed after 3 days of phage irrigation. I have been infection free & antibiotic free for over 1 year. I am 57 yrs old & just earned by yellow belt in karate. I owe my health and my life to bacteriophage therpy via The Phage Therapy Center in Tbilisi.
Posted by Carissa McConnell | June 28, 2012, 2:49 pmWow.. so without the invention of the electron microscope who knows how much longer it would have taken us to properly identify bacteriophages.
Posted by Microscope | December 22, 2011, 6:39 pmI am for phage therapy. But I will be facing strong opposition from FDA, pharmaceutical companies, political parties and the guys who raised the controversy of GM foods..! Can science win this kind of hostility?
Posted by Jeremiah Stanley | January 3, 2012, 3:00 am