| Abstract
| - BackgroundThe most serious criticisms leveled at bacteriophage therapy are as follows: phages induce neutralizing antibodies, phages are active only when administered shortly after bacterial infection, and phage-resistant bacteria emerge rapidly in the course of therapy MethodsPhages lytic for several Salmonella enterica serovars were isolated by means of standard protocols from feces of patients with gastroenteritis. Growth of S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B (Salp572ϕ1S) in the presence of phage ϕ1 (selected from among 8 phages for its larger host range) provided a phage ϕ1-resistant bacterial strain (Salp572ϕ1R). The properties of the Salp572ϕ1S and Salp572ϕ1R strains and of phage ϕ1 were studied in a mouse model of experimental infection ResultsPhages induced nonneutralizing antibodies and were active 2 weeks after experimental infection of mice; phage-resistant bacteria were avirulent and short lived in vivo. More importantly, phage-resistant bacteria were excellent vaccines, protecting against lethal doses of heterologous S. enterica serovars ConclusionsPhage therapy effectiveness has not yet been properly assessed
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