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The following is a summary of “Targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm with an evolutionary trained bacteriophage cocktail exploiting phage resistance trade-offs,” published in the October 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Kunisch et al.
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains are becoming antibiotic-resistant, restricting treatment options. Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, offer potential solutions but require further research to combat biofilm-associated infections effectively.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study analyzing an in-vitro biofilm evolution assay to improve multiple bacteriophage parameters and optimize bacteriophage cocktail design by exploiting a bacterial bacteriophage resistance trade-off.
They used the evolution assay to evolve bacteriophages with a broader host range, improved antimicrobial efficacy, and enhanced antibiofilm performance. Isothermal microcalorimetry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used for the evolved bacteriophages and a 2-phage cocktail was developed for testing antimicrobial efficacy and dual-bacteriophage resistance.
The results showed that the evolved bacteriophages showed an expanded host range, improved antimicrobial efficacy, and enhanced ability to combat biofilms. The 2-phage cocktail further improved antimicrobial effectiveness without leading to dual resistance in the treated bacteria.
They concluded that the developed assay improves understanding of phenotypic-genomic relationships in bacteriophages, paving the way for training them against other pathogens and enhancing bacteriophage therapy as an adjunct treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
Source: nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52595-w
