Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) uropathogenic bacteria have increased in number in recent years and the development of new treatment options for the corresponding infections has become a major challenge in the field of medicine. In this respect, recent studies have proposed bacteriophage (phage) therapy as a potential alternative against MDR Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) because the resistance mechanism of phages differs from that of antibiotics and few side effects have been reported for them. Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis are the most common uropathogenic bacteria against which phage therapy has been used. Phages, in addition to lysing bacterial pathogens, can prevent the formation of biofilms. Besides, by inducing or producing polysaccharide depolymerase, phages can easily penetrate into deeper layers of the biofilm and degrade it. Notably, phage therapy has shown good results in inhibiting multiple-species biofilm and this may be an efficient weapon against catheter-associated UTI. However, the narrow range of hosts limits the use of phage therapy. Therefore, the use of phage cocktail and combination therapy can form a highly attractive strategy. However, despite the positive use of these treatments, various studies have reported phage-resistant strains, indicating that phage–host interactions are more complicated and need further research. Furthermore, these investigations are limited and further clinical trials are required to make this treatment widely available for human use. This review highlights phage therapy in the context of treating UTIs and the specific considerations for this application.

We analyzed the potential antibacterial effects of two different PdB against methicillin-resistant S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The third-degree burn wound healing effects of PdB was also studied. Blood samples were obtained from 10 healthy volunteers and biological assays of the PdB were performed and the antimicrobial activity against MRSA and P. aeruginosa was determined using disk diffusion (DD), broth microdilution (BMD), and time-kill assay methods. 48 Wistar albino rats were burned and infected with MRSA. Two groups were injected PdB, the control groups were treated with plasma and received no treatment respectively. In the next step, the rats were euthanized and skin biopsies were collected and histopathologic changes were examined. The results of DD and BMD showed that both PdB performed very well on MRSA, whereas P. aeruginosa was only inhibited by F-PdB and was less susceptible than MRSA to PdBs. The time-kill assay also showed that F-PdB has an antibacterial effect at 4 hours for two strains. Histopathological studies showed that the treated groups had less inflammatory cells and necrotic tissues. Our data suggest that PdB may possess a clinical utility as a novel topical antimicrobial and wound healing agent for infected burn wounds. Among the traumatic injuries, burns are the main factor of mortality that causes structural and functional deficiencies in numerous organ systems. So today, despite many advances in infection control and wound healing, burn wound infection causes 60% of deaths in burned patients and 300,000 deaths worldwide each year 1,2. Burns damage skin integrity and weaken cellular and humoral immunity. Necrotic tissues also reduce the presence of immune cells in the burned area and facilitate the penetration of pathogens into the underlying tissues and promote their spreading 3,4. Burn wounds are highly susceptible to infection due to the issues mentioned above. Therefore, as the burn sites are colonized with microorganism the burn wound invasive infections such as sepsis may occur. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) among gram-positive and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) among gram-negative bacteria are predominant pathogens in burn wound infection 5,6. S. aureus invades eschar, penetrates subcutaneous and unburned tissues and may create abscesses with different sizes. These abscesses protect S. aureus against host immunity and antibiotics and provide the conditions for entry of this bacterium into the bloodstream 7. The subsequent development and use of broad-spectrum antibiotics effective against S. aureus resulted in the emergence of gram-negative organisms, particularly P. aeruginosa, as the predominant organisms causing invasive burn wound infections in burn patients 8,9. It is worth noting that, the intrinsic and acquired properties such as efflux pumps and reduction of the permeability of the outer membrane proteins have created a high-level antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa, which has limited the use of antibiotics like fluoroquinolones, β-lactams, and carba...

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In patients with hematologic malignancies due to immune system disorders, especially persistent febrile neutropenia, invasive fungal infections (IFI) occur with high mortality. Aspergillosis, candidiasis, fusariosis, mucormycosis, cryptococcosis and trichosporonosis are the most important infections reported in patients with hematologic malignancies that undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These infections are caused by opportunistic fungal pathogens that do not cause severe issues in healthy individuals, but in patients with hematologic malignancies lead to disseminated infection with different clinical manifestations. Prophylaxis and creating a safe environment with proper filters and air pressure for patients to avoid contact with the pathogens in the surrounding environment can prevent IFI. Furthermore, due to the absence of specific symptoms in IFI, rapid and accurate diagnosis reduces the mortality rate of these infections and using molecular techniques along with standard mycological methods will improve the diagnosis of disseminated fungal infection in patients with hematologic disorders. Amphotericin B products, extended-spectrum azoles, and echinocandins are the essential drugs to control invasive fungal infections in patients with hematologic malignancies, and according to various conditions of patients, different results of treatment with these drugs have been reported in different studies. On the other hand, drug resistance in recent years has led to therapeutic failures and deaths in patients with blood malignancies, which indicates the need for antifungal susceptibility tests to use appropriate therapies. Life-threatening fungal infections have become more prevalent in patients with hematologic malignancies in recent years due to the emergence of new risk factors, new species, and increased drug resistance. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the different dimensions of the most critical invasive fungal infections in patients with hematologic malignancies and present a list of these infections with different clinical manifestations, treatment, and outcomes.