Bacteriophage Therapy: A novel treatment for resistant bacteria

AAYUSH PATEL – In the late 1670s, Antony von Leeuwenhoek made a paradigm shifting discovery. The microverse was ruled by bacteria. This discovery allowed for medicine to advance in the field of pathology and the cause of diseases. Today, many bacterial diseases are considered inconsequential due to the widespread use of antibiotics. We take these medications, either over-the-counter or prescribed, without a second thought. 

Yet, in this war against disease, bacteria have been gaining an edge. Superbugs that are resistant to all forms of antibiotics have started evolving. Essentially, antibiotics kill off a majority of bacteria indiscriminately in the body. However, a few resistant bacteria remain, and they start multiplying, passing down their resistant DNA to a new generation. 

This problem has serious consequences and is increasing to critical levels all over the world. Without proper treatment, the illnesses that we have managed through medications could come back and start ravaging us once more. Antibiotics make many of the advances in medicine,such as surgery and chemotherapy, viable. However, there is a possibility to catch bacteria-utilizing bacteriophages as treatment against them. 

Phages are incredibly specific to the type of bacteria that they hunt for. In contrast with antibiotics which kill off multiple kinds of bacteria, including “good bacteria,” bacteriophages are able to hunt one specific bacteria species. Indeed, once the host bacteria has been eradicated sufficiently, the virus itself would die out as it cannot infect human cells and now has no host. A study published in 2011 identified two possible approaches that could be used: prêt-à-porter and sur mesure. Prêt-à-porter is a method whereby researchers and doctors create a cocktail of several different bacteriophages where one of them could match with the bacteria, thereby causing the infection. However, this method could take months to years and is costly. Sur mesure, on the other hand, is where only a few specific phages that match to the strain of the bacteria are inserted. While the other method can be standardized, this method is much quicker, with treatment being created in days and has a much lower cost. 

This type of therapy, however, still needs to be studied intensively. Lack of clinical studies, difficulty in defining criteria, and regulations make it difficult to study phage therapy as accurately as antibiotic or antibiotic-related therapies. Currently,  all phage therapies are used in extreme conditions in conjunction with antibiotic treatments.  Additional problems to investigate are the high cost that phage therapy may bring and the unpredictable effects of using them in cocktails. However, with antibiotic resistance on the rise around the globe, new treatments are necessary to keep down preventable diseases. With the necessity for new treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, phage therapy may be the next great discovery of medicine. 

Copy Editor: Aditi Madhusudan

Photography Source: :  https://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk/about-antibiotic-resistance/bacterial-infections/myths-about-antibiotic-resistance/