Phage Therapy

History

Felix d’Herelle and Frederick Twort were very important in the beginnings of phage therapy. . In 1910, d’Herelle traveled to Mexico to examine an infestation of locusts that were dying from a bacterial intestinal condition. From the locusts’ fecal matter, he was able to isolate Coccobaccilus aeridiorum – the bacterium that was causing the infection. Soon after, d’Herelle noticed a clear zone in the culture plates. . However, it was not until a 1915, when he read an article from Twort describing the same phenomenon in plates of Staphylococcus that he really began to study bacteriophage. PMID: 11544363. Later that year, d’Herelle was asked to research an outbreak of dysentery from French troops. He inoculated Shigella strains from the patients, with fecal samples of the diseased. Again, he found clear areas in the bacterial lawn, leading him to the conclusion that viruses were capable of killing bacteria. .

The first trial of bacteriophage as a treatment option occurred in 1919. After, ingesting phage himself to assess the safety, d’Herelle administered phage to a young patient with a very serious case of dysentery. The patient quickly recovered after one dose. . Further experiments reinforced this success. For example, when d’Herelle and his colleagues traveled to India to treat a cholera outbreak, they found that patients treated with phage had almost a 90 percent mortality rate than those treated with traditional medicines. .

Despite the success of phage therapy, its use declined in much of the Western world as a result of the introduction of antibiotics. However, as a result of being isolated from much of the modern world, the former Soviet Union continued studying bacteriophage, especially in the treatment of soldiers. Much of this continued research was conducted at the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage., which was founded by young scientist, George Eliava, who had met d’Herelle in 1921, and became very fascinated in the study of bacteriophage. . This institute remained very influential in the retained focus on phage therapy in the USSR.

Possible Uses

Phage therapy has more uses than just fighting infections in the body. It has also exhibited success in eliminating food pathogens. For example, a recent study has shown phage to be very successful in exterminating hydrogen sulfide-producing bacteria, known to cause meat to spoil, in animal products.

Advantages over antibiotics

The decline in effectiveness of antibiotics makes bacteriophage therapy very appealing for several reasons. They are particularly important for bacteria that have already built up immunity against antibiotics. Bacteria will not be able to resist phage as well as antibiotics because phage are able to mutate along with the bacteria. Phages are also much greater in number and can multiply in the body as long as an infection is present. Once the pathogenic bacteria dies, the phage will die as well. Furthermore, phage are specific so they can fight a pathogen while allowing beneficial bacteria to live, eliminating many adverse affects antibiotics can cause.