Phage therapy

Phage therapy is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages to treat pathogenic bacterial infections. Although extensively used and developed mainly in former Soviet Union countries for about 90 years, this method of therapy is still being tested elsewhere for treatment of a variety of bacterial and poly-microbial biofilm infections, and has not yet been approved in countries other than Georgia. Phage therapy has many potential applications in human medicine as well as dentistry, veterinary science, and agriculture. [McAuliffe et al. "The New Phage Biology: From Genomics to Applications" (introduction) in Mc Grath, S. and van Sinderen, D. (eds.) "Bacteriophage: Genetics and Molecular Biology" Caister Academic Press ISBN 978-1-904455-14-1. [http://www.highveld.com/pages2/phage.html reprint] ] If the target host of a phage therapy treatment is not an animal, however, then the term "biocontrol" (as in phage-mediated biocontrol of bacteria) is sometimes employed rather than "phage therapy".

An important theoretical benefit of phage therapy is that bacteriophages can be much more specific than more common drugs, so can be chosen to be harmless to not only the host organism (human, animal, or plant), but also other beneficial bacteria, such as gut flora, reducing the chances of opportunistic infections. They also have a high therapeutic index, that is, phage therapy gives rise to few if any side effects, as opposed to drugs, and does not stress the liver. Because phages replicate "in vivo", a single, small dose is sometimes sufficient. Fact|date=December 2007 On the other hand, this specificity is also a disadvantage: A phage will only kill a bacterium if it is a match to the specific strain. Thus, phage mixtures are often applied to improve the chances of success, or samples can be taken and an appropriate phage identified and grown.

Phages are currently being used therapeutically to treat bacterial infections that do not respond to conventional antibiotics, particularly in the country of Georgia.BBC Horizon: Phage - The Virus that Cures] cite journal |author=Parfitt T |title=Georgia: an unlikely stronghold for bacteriophage therapy |journal=Lancet |volume=365 |issue=9478 |pages=2166–7 |year=2005 |pmid=15986542|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)66759-1] cite journal
last =Thiel
first =Karl
title =Old dogma, new tricks—21st Century phage therapy
journal =Nature Biotechnology
volume =22
issue =1
pages =31–36
publisher =Nature Publishing Group
location =London UK
month =January | year =2004
url =http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n1/full/nbt0104-31.html
doi =10.1038/nbt0104-31
issn =1087-0156
accessdate =2007-12-15] They tend to be more successful than antibiotics where there is a biofilm covered by a polysaccharide layer, which antibiotics typically cannot penetrate. Fact|date=December 2007 In the West, no therapies are currently authorized for use on humans, although phages for killing food poisoning bacteria ("Listeria") are now in use.cite journal |author=Pirisi A |title=Phage therapy—advantages over antibiotics? |journal=Lancet |volume=356 |issue=9239 |pages=1418 |year=2000 |pmid=11052592 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)74059-9]

History

Following the discovery of bacteriophages by Frederick Twort and Felix d'Hérellecite journal |author=Shasha SM, Sharon N, Inbar M |title= [Bacteriophages as antibacterial agents] |language=Hebrew |journal=Harefuah |volume=143 |issue=2 |pages=121–5, 166 |year=2004 |pmid=15143702 |doi=] in 1915 and 1917, phage therapy was immediately recognized by many to be a key way forward for the eradication of bacterial infections. A Georgian, George Eliava, was making similar discoveries. He travelled to the Pasteur Institute in Paris where he met d'Hérelle, and in 1926 he founded the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia, devoted to the development of phage therapy.

In neighbouring countries including Russia, extensive research and development soon began in this field. In the USA during the 1940s, commercialization of phage therapy was undertaken by the large pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly.

Whilst knowledge was being accumulated regarding the biology of phages and how to use phage cocktails correctly, early uses of phage therapy were often unreliable. When antibiotics were discovered in 1941 and marketed widely in the USA and Europe, Western scientists mostly lost interest in further use and study of phage therapy for some time.cite journal |author=Hanlon GW |title=Bacteriophages: an appraisal of their role in the treatment of bacterial infections |journal=Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=118–28 |year=2007 |pmid=17566713 |doi=10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2007.04.006 |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0924-8579(07)00203-8]

Isolated from Western advances in antibiotic production in the 1940s, Russian scientists continued to develop already successful phage therapy to treat the wounds of soldiers in field hospitals. During World War II, the Soviet Union used bacteriophages to treat many soldiers infected with various bacterial diseases e.g. dysentery and gangrene. The success rate was as good as, if not better than any antibiotic.Fact|date=March 2007 Russian researchers continued to develop and to refine their treatments and to publish their research and results. However, due to the scientific barriers of the Cold War, this knowledge was not translated and did not proliferate across the world. [ "Stalin's Forgotten Cure" "Science (magazine)" 25 October 2002 v.298 [www.sciencemag.org] [http://www.phage-biotech.com/images/Science-phagetherapy.pdf reprint] ] cite journal |author=Summers WC |title=Bacteriophage therapy |journal=Annu. Rev. Microbiol. |volume=55 |issue= |pages=437–51 |year=2001 |pmid=11544363 |doi=10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.437] There is an extensive library and research center at the Eliava Institute in Tbilisi, Georgia. Phage therapy is today a widespread form of treatment in neighbouring countries. For 80 years Georgian doctors have been treating local people, including babies and newborns, with phages.

As a result of the development of antibiotic resistance since the 1950s and an advancement of scientific knowledge, there is renewed interest worldwide in the ability of phage therapy to eradicate bacterial infections and chronic polymicrobial biofilm, along with other strategies.

Phages have been explored as means to eliminate pathogens like "Campylobacter" in raw foodcite journal |author=Mangen MJ, Havelaar AH, Poppe KP, de Wit GA |title=Cost-utility analysis to control Campylobacter on chicken meat: dealing with data limitations |journal=Risk Anal. |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=815–30 |year=2007 |pmid=17958494 |doi=10.1111/j.1539-6924.2007.00925.x |url=http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/openurl?genre=article&sid=nlm:pubmed&issn=0272-4332&date=2007&volume=27&issue=4&spage=815] and "Listeria" in fresh food or to reduce food spoilage bacteria.cite book | author = Mc Grath S and van Sinderen D (editors). | title = Bacteriophage: Genetics and Molecular Biology | edition = 1st ed. | publisher = Caister Academic Press | year = 2007 | url=http://www.horizonpress.com/phage | id = [http://www.horizonpress.com/phage ISBN 978-1-904455-14-1 ] ] In agricultural practice phages were used to fight pathogens like "Campylobacter", "Escherichia" and "Salmonella" in farm animals, "Lactococcus" and "Vibrio" pathogens in fish from aquaculture and "Erwinia" and "Xanthomonas" in plants of agricultural importance. The oldest use was, however, in human medicine. Phages were used against diarrheal diseases caused by "E. coli", "Shigella" or "Vibrio" and against wound infections caused by facultative pathogens of the skin like staphylococci and streptococci. Recently the phage therapy approach has been applied to systemic and even intracellular infections and the addition of non-replicating phage and isolated phage enzymes like lysins to the antimicrobial arsenal. However, definitive proof for the efficiency of these phage approaches in the field or the hospital is only provided in a few cases.cite book | author = Mc Grath S and van Sinderen D (editors). | title = Bacteriophage: Genetics and Molecular Biology | edition = 1st ed. | publisher = Caister Academic Press | year = 2007 | url=http://www.horizonpress.com/phage | id = [http://www.horizonpress.com/phage ISBN 978-1-904455-14-1 ] ]

Potential benefits

A potential benefit of phage therapy is freedom from the severe adverse effects of antibiotics. Also it would possibly be fast-acting, once the exact bacteria are identified and the phages administered. Another benefit of phage therapy is that although bacteria are able to develop resistance to phages the resistance might be easier to overcome.

Bacteriophages are often very specific, targeting only one or a few strains of bacteria.cite journal |author=Duckworth DH, Gulig PA |title=Bacteriophages: potential treatment for bacterial infections |journal=BioDrugs |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=57–62 |year=2002 |pmid=11909002 |doi=] Traditional antibiotics usually have more wide-ranging effect, killing both harmful bacteria and useful bacteria such as those facilitating food digestion. The specificity of bacteriophages might reduce the chance that useful bacteria are killed when fighting an infection.

Increasing evidence shows the ability of phages to travel to a required site — including the brain, where the blood brain barrier can be crossed — and multiply in the presence of an appropriate bacterial host, to combat infections such as meningitis. However the patient's immune system can, in some cases mount an immune response to the phage (2 out of 44 patients in a Polish trial ["Non-antibiotic therapies for infectious diseases." by Christine F Carson, and Thomas V Riley "Communicable Diseases Intelligence" Volume 27 Supplement - May 2003 [http://www.aodgp.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-pubs-cdi-2003-cdi27suppl-htm-cdi27supab.htm Australian Dept of health website] ] ). This might possibly be therapeutically significant.

Development and production is faster than antibiotics, on condition that the required recognition molecules are known. Fact|date=May 2008

Research groups in the West are engineering a broader spectrum phage and also target MRSA treatments in a variety of forms - including impregnated wound dressings, preventative treatment for burn victims, phage-impregnated sutures. Enzobiotics are a new development at Rockefeller University that create enzymes from phage. These show potential for preventing secondary bacterial infections e.g. pneumonia developing with patients suffering from flu, otitis etc..Fact|date=May 2008

Some bacteria such as multiply resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae have no non toxic antibiotics available, and yet killing of the bacteria via intraperitoneal, intravenous or intranasal of phages in vivo has been shown to work in laboratory tests. [ [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1882608?dopt=Abstract] ]

Application

Collection

In its simplest form, phage treatment works by collecting local samples of water likely to contain high quantities of bacteria and bacteriophages, for example effluent outlets, sewage and other sources. They can also be extracted from corpses. The samples are taken and applied to the bacteria that are to be destroyed which have been cultured on growth medium.

The bacteria usually die, and the mixture is centrifuged. The phages collect on the top of the mixture and can be drawn off.

The phage solutions are then tested to see which ones show growth suppression effects (lysogeny) and/or destruction (lysis) of the target bacteria. The phage showing lysis are then amplified on cultures of the target bacteria, passed through a filter to remove all but the phages, then distributed.

Treatment

Phages are "bacterium specific" and it is therefore necessary in many cases to take a swab from the patient and culture it prior to treatment. Occasionally, isolation of therapeutic phages can typically require a few months to complete, but clinics generally keep supplies of phage cocktails for the most common bacterial strains in a geographical area.

Phages in practice are applied orally, topically on infected wounds or spread onto surfaces, or used during surgical procedures. Injection is rarely used, avoiding any risks of trace chemical contaminants that may be present from the bacteria amplification stage,and recognizing that the immune system naturally fights against viruses introduced into the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

The direct human use of phage might possibly be safe; suggestively, in August 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved spraying meat with phages. Although this initially raised concerns since without mandatory labeling consumers won't be aware that meat and poultry products have been treated with the spray, [http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2006/08/18/ap2959720.html] it confirms to the public that, for example, phages against "Listeria" are generally recognized as safe (GRAS status) within the worldwide scientific community and opens the way for other phages to also be recognized as having GRAS status. Phage therapy has been attempted for the treatment of a variety of bacterial infections including: laryngitis, skin infections, dysentery, conjunctivitis, periodontitis, gingivitis, sinusitis, urinary tract infections and intestinal infections, burns, boils, etc. - also poly-microbial biofilms on chronic wounds, ulcers and infected surgical sites. Fact|date=December 2007

In 2007, Phase 2a clinical trials have been reported at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London for "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" infections (otitis).cite web |url=http://www.bccapital.co.uk/PressNews/tabid/118/Default.aspx |title=Press & News |accessdate=2007-12-13 |format= |work=] .cite web |url=http://www.biocontrol.ltd.uk/STVdoc.htm |title=biocontrol.ltd.uk |accessdate=2007-12-13 |format= |work=] cite web |url=http://www.biocontrol-ltd.com/PressNews/tabid/61/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/9/Scientists-start-germ-warfare-to-beat-illness.aspx |title=biocontrol-ltd.com |accessdate=2008-04-30 |format= |work=] Documentation of the Phase-1 and Phase-2a study is not available at present.

Phase 1 clinical trials are underway in the South West Regional Wound Care Center, Lubbock, Texas for an approved cocktail of phages against bacteria, including "P. aeruginosa", "Staphylococcus aureus" and "Escherichia coli" (better known as E. coli). Fact|date=December 2007

Reviews of phage therapy indicate that more clinical and microbiological research is needed to meet current standards. [" "Phage therapy: the "Escherichia coli" experience" by Harald Brüssow in "Microbiology" (2005) v. 151, p.2133-2140. [http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/151/7/2133?view=long&pmid=16000704 publisher site] ]

Distribution

Phages can usually be freeze dried and turned into pills without materially impacting efficacy. In pill form temperature stability up to 55 C, and shelf lives of 14 months have been shown.Fact|date=December 2007

Other forms of administration can include application in liquid form. These vials are usually best kept refrigerated.Fact|date=December 2007

Oral administration works better when an antacid is included, as this increases the number of phages surviving passage through the stomach.Fact|date=December 2007

Topical administration often involves application to gauzes that are laid on the area to be treated.Fact|date=December 2007

Obstacles

General

The host specificity of phage therapy may make it necessary for clinics to make different cocktails for treatment of the same infection or disease because the bacterial components of such diseases may differ from region to region or even person to person. Such a process would make it difficult for large scale production of phage therapy. Additionally, patent issues (specifically on living organisms) may complicate distribution for pharmaceutical companies wishing to have exclusive rights over their "invention"; making it unlikely that a for-profit corporation will invest capital in the widespread application of this technology.

In addition, due to the specificity of individual phages, for a high chance of success, a mixture of phages is often applied. This means that 'banks' containing many different phages are needed to be kept and regularly updated with new phages, which makes regulatory testing for safety harder and more expensive.

Some bacteria, for example "Clostridium" and "Mycobacterium", have no known therapeutic phages available as yet.

To work, the virus has to reach the site of the bacteria, and viruses do not necessarily reach the "same" places that antibiotics can reach.

Funding for phage therapy research and clinical trials is generally insufficient and difficult to obtain, since it is a lengthy and complex process to patent bacteriophage products. Scientists comment that 'the biggest hurdle is regulatory', whereas an official view is that individual phages would need proof individually because it would be too complicated to do as a combination, with many variables. Due to the specificity of phages, phage therapy would be most effective with a cocktail injection, which are generally rejected by the FDA. Researchers and observers predict that for phage therapy to be successful the FDA must change its regulatory stance on combination drug cocktails.cite journal |author=Thiel K |title=Old dogma, new tricks—21st Century phage therapy |journal=Nat. Biotechnol. |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=31–6 |year=2004 |pmid=14704699 |doi=10.1038/nbt0104-31] Public awareness and education about phage therapy are generally limited to scientific or independent research rather than mainstream media. [Brüssow, H 2007. "Phage Therapy: The Western Perspective". in S. McGrath and D. van Sinderen (eds.) "Bacteriophage: Genetics and Molecular Biology", Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK. ISBN 978-1-904455-14-1 ]

afety

Phage therapy is generally considered safe. As with antibiotic therapy and other methods of countering bacterial infections, endotoxins are released by the bacteria as they are destroyed within the patient (Herxheimer reaction). This can cause symptoms of fever, or in extreme cases toxic shock (a problem also seen with antibiotics) is possible. [ [http://www.evergreen.edu/phage/phagetherapy/phagetherapy.htm Evergreen PHAGE THERAPY: BACTERIOPHAGES AS ANTIBIOTICS] ] Janakiraman Ramachandran, a former president of AstraZeneca India who 2 years ago launched GangaGen Inc., a phage-therapy start-up in Bangalore, [ [http://www.phageinternational.com/phagetherapy/stalins_print.htm Stone, Richard. "Stalin's Forgotten Cure." Science Online 282 (25 October 2002).] ] argues that this complication can be avoided in those types of infection where this reaction is likely to occur by using genetically engineered bacteriophages; which have had their gene responsible for producing endolysin removed. Without this gene the host bacterium still dies but remains intact because the lysis is disabled. On the other hand this modification stops the exponential growth of phages, so one administered phage means one dead bacterial cell.cite journal
last =Thiel
first =Karl
title =Old dogma, new tricks—21st Century phage therapy
journal =Nature Biotechnology
volume =22
issue =1
pages =31–36
publisher =Nature Publishing Group
location =London UK
month =January | year =2004
url =http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n1/full/nbt0104-31.html
doi =10.1038/nbt0104-31
issn =1087-0156
accessdate =2007-12-15] Eventually these dead cells are consumed by the normal house cleaning duties of the phagocytes, which utilise enzymes to break the whole bacterium and its contents down into its harmless sub-units of proteins, polysaccharides and lipids. [cite book
last =Fox
first =Stuart Ira
title =Human Physiology -6th ed.
publisher =McGraw-Hill
year =1999
location =
pages = pages: 50,55,448,449
url =http://www.mhhe.com
doi =
id =
isbn =0-697-34191-7 ]

Care has to be taken in manufacture that the phage medium is free of bacterial fragments and endotoxins from the production process.

Lysogenic bacteriophages are not generally used therapeutically. This group can act as a way for bacteria to exchange DNA, and this can help spread antibiotic resistance or even, theoretically, can make the bacteria pathogenic (see Cholera).

The lytic bacteriophages available for phage therapy are best kept refrigerated but discarded if the pale yellow clear liquid goes cloudy.

Cultural references

See also

* Phage meetings
* Phage monographs

References

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phage therapy — (FAYJ thair.uh.pee) n. Medical therapy that uses bacteriophage viruses to kill the bacteria that are causing an illness or infection. Example Citation: Could phage therapy be the answer to our prayers? It certainly has its attractions. Unlike… … New words
phage therapy — /ˈfeɪdʒ θɛrəpi/ (say fayj theruhpee) noun the treatment of bacterial diseases with bacteriophage, a medical practice that fell out of use with the advent of antibiotics but which has subsequently returned to favour because of the developing… …
Phage (disambiguation) — Phage is the shortened form of bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria.Phage (from Greek phagein, to eat ) may also refer to:In virology:* Enterobacteria phage T2, virulent bacteriophage of the T4 like viruses genus * Enterobacteria phage T4 … Wikipedia
Phage meetings — Bacteriophage are viruses of bacteria. They are likely the most numerous organisms on Earth and contributed greatly to the development of the disciplines of molecular biology and molecular genetics. This page is an biblographic listing of… … Wikipedia
Phage ecology — Bacteriophages (phages), potentially the most numerous organisms on Earth, are the viruses of bacteria (more generally, of prokaryotesThe term prokaryotes is useful to mean the sum of the bacteria and archaeabacteria but otherwise can be… … Wikipedia
Phage monographs — Bacteriophage (phage) are viruses of bacteria and arguably are the most numerous organisms on Earth. The history of phage study is captured, in part, in the books published on the topic (but see also phage meetings). Presented is a list of 100… … Wikipedia
Therapy — For other uses, see Therapy (disambiguation). Therapy Intervention MeSH D013812 Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία), or treatment, is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually fo … Wikipedia
larval therapy — /ˈlavəl θɛrəpi/ (say lahvuhl theruhpee) noun → phage therapy …
Monoclonal antibody therapy — Each antibody binds only one specific antigen. Monoclonal antibody therapy is the use of monoclonal antibodies (or mAb) to specifically bind to target cells or proteins. This may then stimulate the patient s immune system to attack those cells.… … Wikipedia
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