Bacteriophage Therapy

Abstract

In 1917, bacteriophages were recognized as epizootic infections of bacteria and were almost immediately deployed for antibacterial therapy and prophylaxis. The early trials of bacteriophage therapy for infectious diseases were confounded, however, because the biological nature of bacteriophage was poorly understood. The early literature reviewed here indicates that there are good reasons to believe that phage therapy can be effective in some circumstances. The advent of antibiotics, together with the "Soviet taint" acquired by phage therapy in the postwar period, resulted in the absence of rigorous evaluations of phage therapy until very recently. Recent laboratory and animal studies, exploiting current understandings of phage biology, suggest that phages may be useful as antibacterial agents in certain conditions.

La « synergie phages-antibiotiques »

“…Ces types de virus sont ubiquitaires et sont les « entités biologiques » les plus abondantes de la biosphère ; leur nombre dépasse de 10 à 15 fois celui de leurs bactéries hôtes [4,5]. Les phages ont été découverts au début du XX e siècle par Félix d'Hérelle [6], un microbiologiste franco-canadien ayant travaillé un certain temps à l'Institut Pasteur de Paris. Dès leur découverte, ils ont été utilisés pour combattre certaines infections bactériennes.…”

Enhancing and initiating phage-based therapies

“…[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Our response is that work should be done to increase success frequency by using modern molecular biology/biophysics to continuously reoptimize phage cocktail composition and use. We will discuss details, several based on characterization of phage DNA.…”

Treatment of plague: promising alternatives to antibiotics

“…After the discovery of bacteriophages by Twort in 1915, and independently by d'Herelle in 1917, a number of researchers and physicians were overenthusiastic in the use of bacteriophages for the therapy of bacterial disease (Skurnik & Strauch, 2006;Sulakvelidze, 2005;Summers, 1999Summers, , 2001. With respect to plague, in 1925, d'Herelle used a highly virulent anti-plague phage that had been isolated in 1920 in Indo-China from rat faeces to treat four cases of bubonic plague as the first bacteriophage therapy (d 'Herelle, 1925).…”

“…On the basis of this work, a number of attempts to confirm the efficacy of the phage therapy of plague both in animal models and in clinical trials were performed (d 'Herelle, 1925;Flu, 1929;Fonquernie, 1932;Lien-Teh et al, 1936;Naidu & Avari, 1932;Rudnev 1940). However, a poor understanding of the mechanisms of phage-bacterial interactions, including lysogeny and phage DNA restriction, and poorly designed and executed experiments and clinical trials, together with the use of undefined phages in the form of non-purified phage preparations, led to conflicting results (Skurnik & Strauch, 2006;Sulakvelidze, 2005;Summers, 1999Summers, , 2001). …”

“…Evidence from several recent trials designed and executed in accordance with good laboratory practice (GLP) regulations indicates that phage therapy can be effective, although the efficacy of the phage treatment depends greatly on the route (oral, intramuscular, aerosol spray, etc.) and/or frequency of phage application (Skurnik & Strauch, 2006;Sulakvelidze, 2005;Summers, 1999Summers, , 2001. Numerous obstacles to the use of phage as antimicrobials for clinical practice remain.…”