A1 Journal article (refereed)
Targeting antibiotic resistant bacteria with phage reduces bacterial density in an insect host (2019)
Mikonranta, L., Buckling, A., Jalasvuori, M., & Raymond, B. (2019). Targeting antibiotic resistant bacteria with phage reduces bacterial density in an insect host. Biology Letters, 15 (3), 20180895. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0895
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Mikonranta, Lauri; Buckling, Angus; Jalasvuori, Matti; Raymond, Ben
Journal or series: Biology Letters
ISSN: 1744-9561
eISSN: 1744-957X
Publication year: 2019
Volume: 15
Issue number: 3
Article number: 20180895
Publisher: Royal Society Publishing
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0895
Research data link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc54383
Open Access: Publication channel is not openly available
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/63920
Abstract
Phage therapy is attracting growing interest among clinicians as antibiotic resistance continues becoming harder to control. However, clinical trials and animal model studies on bacteriophage treatment are still scarce and results on the efficacy vary. Recent research suggests that using traditional antimicrobials in concert with phage could have desirable synergistic effects that hinder the evolution of resistance. Here, we present a novel insect gut model to study phage–antibiotic interaction in a system where antibiotic resistance initially exists in very low frequency and phage specifically targets the resistance bearing cells. We demonstrate that while phage therapy could not reduce the frequency of target bacteria in the population during positive selection by antibiotics, it alleviated the antibiotic induced blooming by lowering the overall load of resistant cells. The highly structured gut environment had pharmacokinetic effects on both phage and antibiotic dynamics compared with in vitro: antibiotics did not reduce the overall amount of bacteria, demonstrating a simple turnover of gut microbiota from non-resistant to resistant population with little cost. The results imply moderate potential for using phage as an aid to target antibiotic resistant gut infections, and question the usefulness of in vitro inferences.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance; bacteriophages; Enterobacteriaceae; phage therapy
Free keywords: bacteriophage; Enterobacter cloacae; gut infection; insect model
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Plasmid-dependent bacteriophages: a novel tool to fight bacterial biofilms, persistent infections and the spread of antibiotic resistance
- Jalasvuori, Matti
- Academy of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2019
JUFO rating: 2