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Abstract

Phage therapy has become a successful alternative to conventional antibiotic therapy due to the increasing number of multidrug-resistant bacteria in most clinical settings. Various factors like phage adsorption to the host site and phage neutralization by the host determine the efficacy of phage treatment. However, external factors like temperature and pH are critical in deciding the success of using phages in therapeutics. The high stability of phages under both favourable and unfavourable conditions guides their stability in phage therapeutic preparations as well as at the site of infection. In the present study, we exposed the phage to different pH and temperature combinations. The phage showed statistically significant activity at pH 7 and 8 compared to pH 6. In terms of different exposure temperatures, the phage showed good antibacterial activity at temperatures between 31 0 C and 40 0 C. A combination of pH 7 with temperature 38 0 C showed the highest recovery of the phage; however, stability was seen in a considerable range of temperature and pH. The lytic activity of phage was insignificant at extremes of temperature and pH. The present study results indicate that phages, in terms of their stability to variations in external factors, can be a promising alternative to antibiotics or can be used in combination with antibiotics for the successful treatment of multidrug-resistant pathogens. INTRODUCTION:Phage therapy was a popular treatment choice for many infections before the discovery of antibiotics 1 . The recent rise in the number of multidrug-resistant bacteria due to the reduced efficacy of antibiotics has posed a serious challenge for treatment. Due to this and a decline in the number of newer antibiotics in the pipeline, renewed interest has emerged among researchers to revisit the use of phages to treat infections, especially those that are refractory to treatment with most routine and high-level antibiotics 1, 2 .

Comprehensive Characterization of a Novel Bacteriophage, vB_VhaS_MAG7 against a Fish Pathogenic Strain of Vibrio harveyi and Its In Vivo Efficacy in Phage Therapy Trials

“…Temperature and acidity are crucial factors that play a major role in phage adsorption to the host and phage neutralization, determining the efficacy of phage treatment [27]. Phage vB_VhaS_MAG7 remained consistent in a broad range of temperatures and pH values, which makes it a highly practical candidate for phage therapy.…”