Predator bacteria treat pneumonia
Bacteria that kill pneumonia pathogens directly in the lungs have been tested
Sergey Vasiliev, Naked Science
The spread of antibiotic-resistant infections is becoming an increasingly urgent problem, causing increased interest in the creation of other means of combating microbes, including phage therapy and the use of unconventional antibacterial agents. One of such innovative ways is the use of bacteria that infect other pathogens, such as the freely moving vibrions Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Micavibrio aeruginosavorus, discovered several decades ago.
In the environment, bdellovibrions and similar organisms (Bdellovibrio-And-Like-OrganismS, or BALOS) are ubiquitous, inhabiting our gastrointestinal tract. Predatory microbes easily penetrate the thin walls of gram–negative bacteria, devouring them from the inside and multiplying - from two to seven new predatory vibrions are "derived" from each affected cell. Genetically modified strains that affect only certain victims have not yet been bred, and scientists are testing forms found in nature – for example, those preferring Klebsiella pneumoniae, the causative agents of pneumonia.
The potential of this approach has recently been demonstrated by the work of Daniel Kadouri and his colleagues at Rutgers University. They told about it in an article published by the open journal of the American Society of Microbiology mBio (Shatzkes et al., Predatory Bacterium Attenuate Klebsiella pneumoniae Burden in Rat Lungs). Previously, scientists investigated BALOS for the treatment of infected fish and chickens, but before proceeding to testing the new method on humans, they tested it on mammals as well. The experiments performed by Kaduri and his co–authors on rats turned out to be the first in this series - and successful.
Earlier, another team of researchers from the USA managed to show that BALOS pose no danger to human cell culture without infecting them. However, the beginning of clinical trials of the method on volunteers is noticeably delayed. Despite all the demand for non-antibiotic approaches to the treatment of infections, the very proposal to introduce bacteria to patients in order to get rid of others sounds too innovative and unexpected. Scientists admit that psychological "stupors" remain one of the most serious obstacles before testing and implementing a new approach.
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11.11.2016