Bacteriophages against Clostridium
A killer virus for a super microbe has been found
Mednovosti based on the materials of Medicalexpress: Bacteria-eating viruses 'magic bullets in the war on superbugs'British scientists have successfully isolated a special bacteriophage – a virus that infects the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which has natural resistance to most antibiotics and can cause severe poisoning of the body.
According to the results obtained, the researchers' development has shown its effectiveness against 90% of clinically significant strains of intestinal infection. The work was carried out at the University of Leicester with the support of the Medical Research Council (MRC).
C.difficile is part of the normal microflora of the gastrointestinal tract, however, if it is disturbed, for example, against the background of prolonged use of antibiotics, this microorganism begins to pose a serious threat to health. In patients with weakened immunity, this type of clostridium can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration, which can lead to death, given the resistance of these bacteria to most modern antibiotics.
According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Martha Clokie, although antibiotics have saved countless lives, their impact on pathogenic microorganisms is reduced due to the emergence of antibiotic resistance of bacteria. In addition, antibiotics destroy the beneficial intestinal microflora, which increases the likelihood of relapse or the development of another infection.
An alternative to antibiotics are preparations based on bacteriophages, which, unlike them, are specific and affect only certain types of bacteria. After attaching to the cell wall of the host organism, the phage injects its DNA into the bacterium, causing a complete restructuring of the cell's metabolism aimed at multiplying the virus, which ultimately leads to lysis of the bacterial cell.
On the left – bacteriophages infect a bacterial cell,
on the right – new viral particles come out of the killed bacterium – VMDr. Kloki and colleagues have studied in detail and successfully isolated most of the phages that are capable of infecting C.difficile strains.
The results of six years of research have shown that a certain mixture of bacteriophages is effective against 90% of the most clinically significant strains of the causative agent of this intestinal infection.
"The use of such bacteriophage–based therapy will eliminate the negative impact on the intestinal microflora, minimize the risk of relapses, protect patients from life-threatening microorganisms and reduce healthcare costs for the treatment of this hospital superinfection," Medicalexpress quoted the words of the main author of the study.
Dr. Kloki believes that the latest research by scientists in this direction will open the way to the widespread use of bacteriophages in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. At the moment, scientists are going to improve the phage drug to achieve its maximum effectiveness against C.difficile, in order to then conduct clinical trials of the resulting drug.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru17.10.2013