Bacteriophage administration significantly reducesShigellacolonization and shedding byShigella-challenged mice without deleterious side effects and distortions in the gut microbiota
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: We used a mouse model to establish safety and efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail, ShigActive™, in reducing fecal Shigella counts after oral challenge with a susceptible strain. Groups of inbred C57BL/6J mice challenged with Shigella sonnei strain S43-NalAcR were treated with a phage cocktail (ShigActive™) composed of 5 lytic Shigella bacteriophages and ampicillin. The treatments were administered (i) 1 h after, (ii) 3 h after, (iii) 1 h before and after, and (iv) 1 h before bacterial challenge. The treatment regimens elicited a 10- to 100-fold reduction in the CFU's of the challenge strain in fecal and cecum specimens compared to untreated control mice, (P < 0.05). ShigActiveTM treatment was at least as effective as treatment with ampicillin but had a significantly less impact on the gut microbiota. Long-term safety studies did not identify any side effects or distortions in overall gut microbiota associated with bacteriophage administration. Shigella phages may be therapeutically effective in a “classical phage therapy” approach, at least during the early stages after Shigella ingestion. Oral prophylactic “phagebiotic” administration of lytic bacteriophages may help to maintain a healthy gut microbiota by killing specifically targeted bacterial pathogens in the GI tract, without deleterious side effects and without altering the normal gut microbiota.
Source: Bacteriophage
Authors: Volker Mai, Maria Ukhanova, Mary K Reinhard, Manrong Li, Alexander Sulakvelidze
Institutions: University of Florida, Intralytix (United States)
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: U.S. Army
Award: G459367103
OpenAlex ID: W2214253644