Phage therapy to control multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa skin infections: in vitro and ex vivo experiments.
The main goal of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of phage therapy against one of the most common multidrug-resistant (MDR) agents of skin infections, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A phage suspension [10(8) plaque-forming units (PFU) mL(-1)] was obtained using the clinical strain P. aeruginosa 709 as the host. The ability of the phage to inactivate P. aeruginosa was evaluated in vitro and ex vivo (human skin), using a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.5 to 50. In the presence of the phage, the density of P. aeruginosa 709 [10(5) colony-forming units (CFU) mL(-1)] in the human skin decreased by 4 logs after 2 h of incubation. The application of a second dose of phage did not increase the efficiency of the therapy. This study indicates that the topical application of phage PA709 efficiently inactivates MDR P. aeruginosa 709. The high efficiency in the inactivation of MDR P. aeruginosa 709, its considerable host range (infection of 30 % of the P. aeruginosa isolates) and its high stability in buffer and ex vivo human skin make this phage very promising for the treatment of P. aeruginosa skin infections. The phage-bacteria interactions were examined in vitro and in ex vivo in order to provide a basis for the selection of the most suitable protocol for subsequent in vivo experiments.
Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
A
A
Vieira
Y J
YJ
Silva
A
A
Cunha
N C M
NC
Gomes
H-W
HW
Ackermann
A
A
Almeida
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001691:Biological Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D017105:Pseudomonas Phages; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000821:virology*; D017192:Skin Diseases, Bacterial / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome