Pharmacological and Immunological Action of Bacteriophages: Focus on Phage Therapy

Bacteriophages (viruses of microbes) could be part of the solution against multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Phage therapy has the possibility to become an indispensable medical tool to fight against our antibiotic resistance problem. However, many of the safety and biological concerns with phage therapy still need to be addressed. Further detailed analysis and discovery of unique bacteriophages is still required because physiological responses to phages vary from individual to individual due to specific phage strains. Pre-clinical and clinical trials, need to be focused on addressing the efficacy of phage therapy in cases where most synthesized drugs cease to show therapeutic action. The pharmacology of phages can be differentiated as pharmacodynamics (drug's impact on the body) and pharmacokinetics (body’s response to the drug). Phages are specific and are chosen for therapy, which exhibit a range of immunological and pharmacological changes. Phage dynamics and kinetics as therapy have not been well established so far.
According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the largest challenges in the 21st century. For phage therapy to be useful part of any solution to this problem, regulatory and technical hurdles such as phage manufacturing, phage pharmacology, phage delivery, and adverse systemic effects need to be cleared.
The goal of this Research Topic is to overview and discuss the current knowledge concerning the potential therapeutic properties of phages and to gather the latest research data regarding pharmacology and immunology of phage therapy against various infectious diseases. With this collaborative pharmacological, microbiological, and immunological analysis of phage therapy, we need to understand what the ‘general public’ and researchers are currently doing against multidrug resistant microbes. The goal of this research topic is to cover questions such as, what is the clinical relevance of phage therapy with respect to antibiotic resistance? How can phage therapy contribute to the management of serious multidrug-resistant infections?
The specific focus of this collaborative topic is to contribute high quality manuscripts including Original Research papers, Clinical case reports, Reviews, and Perspectives based on interdisciplinary methods and technologies aimed at analyzing the future aspects of phage therapy. We welcome contributions including the following topics but not limited to:
- Pre-clinical or clinical efficacy and pharmacokinetics of phage therapy
- Immune response of phage therapy (immunophage synergy)
- Challenges of phage antibacterial action, focusing on pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties
- Biology, kinetics, and limitations of phage therapy
- Development of phages into a pharmaceutical product
- Drug delivery vectors and biotechnological applications of phage therapy