Phage cocktail for diabetic wound infections caused by MRSA

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a serious complication of diabetes mellitus. Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is frequently isolated from DFU infections. Bacteriophages (phages) represent an alternative or complementary treatment to antibiotic therapy. Here we describe the efficacy of AB-SA01, a cocktail of three S. aureus Myoviridae phages manufactured according to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards and having completed two Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. aureus infections.

Results
Wounds of mice treated with saline did not heal but expanded and became inflamed, ulcerated, and purulent. In contrast, treatment with AB-SA01 reduced bacterial burden with efficacy similar to or superior to that of vancomycin. At the end of the treatment period, there was a significant decrease (p<0.001) in bacterial burden and wound size in the infected phage- and vancomycin-treated groups compared to infected saline-treated mice. In phage-treated mice, wound healing progressed similarly to vancomycin treatment. No infection-related mortality was recorded, and post-mortem examinations showed no obvious pathological lesions apart from the skin wounds. No adverse effects related to phage application were observed.

Conclusion
Topical application of the phage cocktail AB-SA01 is effective in treating diabetic wound infections caused by MDR S. aureus, as demonstrated by reduction in bacterial burden and wound closure. Our results suggest that topical phage cocktail treatment may be effective in managing antibiotic-resistant S. aureus DFU infections.

 

Translation of the source (more details at)
https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-020-01891-8