They’re ba-ack! But in a new disease-fighting role. Viruses that
infect and kill bacteria — used to treat infections in the
pre-antibiotic era a century ago and in the former Soviet Union today —
may have a new role in preventing formation of the sticky “biofilms” of
bacteria responsible for infections on implanted medical devices. That’s
the topic of a report in the ACS journal Biomacromolecules.
Marek Urban and colleagues explain that bacteriophages (literally,
“bacteria eaters”) were first used to treat bacterial infections in the
19th century. These viruses — more than 1,000 different kinds
exist — attack disease-causing bacteria. The scientists focused on use
of phages to wage “microbial warfare” on the films of bacteria that form
on catheters, stents and other medical implants. These infections,
which often involve antibiotic-resistant bacteria, strike more than a
million patients annually in the United States alone, increasing
hospital bills by almost $1 billion.
They describe attachment of phages to the surfaces of materials like
those used in implanted medical devices, and evidence that the phages
remain active, killing E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
Those bacteria cause the most common hospital-acquired infections. The
technology can attach phages to almost any surface, and is “a promising
and effective means of not only combating antibiotic-resistant
infections, but also the technological platform for the development of
bacteria sensing and detecting devices.”
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation; the Sirrine Foundation; and the Mississippi INBRE, which is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health.
Source: American Chemical Society