Prolonged disease remission of the chronic immunological skin disorder hidradenitis suppurativa with adjunctive bacteriophage therapy
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin disease in which the acute development of noduli, abscesses and in a later stage fistulas remains difficult to control, despite a wide range of recommended treatment options including immunomodulatory biologicals, surgical intervention and antibiotics. Besides being painful, associated lesions have an extensive impact on the quality of life. While HS is primarily an immune-mediated inflammatory disease, the skin microbiota plays a key role in its pathogenesis with pathogenic bacterial colonization of lesions observed. Bacteriophages, the viruses of bacteria, are used to treat a 52-year-old female HS patient with re-current colonization of lesions with Staphylococcus aureus. Phage therapy results in complete removal of lesions with a flare-free period of six months, along with a substantial improvement in the patient's quality of life. The deployed experimental framework and the gained clinical experience will be valuable for future HS phage therapy research.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Lene Bens, Tine Vanhoutvin, Sabrina Green, Sayali Gorivale, Madalena Almeida, Filip Romaniuk, Tom Hillary, Daan Jansen, Jelle Matthijnssens, Séverine Vermeire, João Sabino, Melissa Depypere, David Devolder, Isabel Spriet, Yves Debaveye, Paul De Munter, Jolien Onsea, Willem-Jan Metsemakers, Vera van Noort, Jean-Paul Pirnay, Maya Merabishvili, Jeroen Wagemans, Rob Lavigne, An Van Laethem
Language: English
Subfield: Dermatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
Funder: KU Leuven
OpenAlex ID: W4416987374