Frontiers | Phage Therapy in Infectious Diseases of Animals and Humans

About this Research Topic

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Background

Bacteriophage therapy, or phage therapy, is the method of treatment of bacterial infections by using bacteriophages, or phages, i.e. viruses which multiply in bacterial cells. It is considered as a potential therapy of human and animal diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria. Particularly, this kind of therapy should be taken into consideration in the era of the antibiotic crisis which is caused by appearance of bacterial strains resistant to many, if not all, currently available antibiotics. Nevertheless, despite many years of studies on phage therapy, this method remains largely at the level of laboratory studies, or experimental therapy at best. There are still controversies on its efficacy and safety, particularly when used at the large scale in human and veterinary medicine. In fact, despite some successes in the use of experimental phage therapy, the efficacy and safety issues are still unclear, mainly due to only limited experimental approaches reported in individual publications, particularly the use of a low number of strains and measurement of only a few parameters of efficacy and safety profile. Therefore, further studies should provide data which will add important input to our knowledge on effects of bacteriophages administered to animals and humans infected with virulent bacterial strains. We are still awaiting more studies which should be complex and focused on global analysis of interactions between bacteria and phages in animals/humans, and also on analysis of putative interactions between bacteriophages and organisms of investigated animal/human organisms infected with pathogenic bacteria. Cellular responses to treatment with bacteriophages should also be studied at molecular levels. All these aspects represent topics covered in this special issue.

Both original papers and review articles are welcome, provided they are focused on phage therapy. When considering experimental works, description of results of studies on:

(i) molecular and cellular mechanisms operating during phage development in cells of pathogenic bacteria

(ii) interactions of phages with animal and human cells

(iii) efficacy and safety of phage therapy are especially welcome.

Papers presenting clinical studies will also considered with special attention. It is expected that this special issue can be a platform for sharing results of modern studies on various aspects of phage therapy, extending our knowledge in this field and indicating novel opportunities. Review articles should present comprehensive summaries and analyses of various aspects of phage therapy while showing potential perspectives of development of this promising therapeutic strategy which still needs extensive studies before it can be introduced into a common practice.

Keywords: bacteriopage, phage therapy, animal, human, disease

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Topic editors

alicja wegrzyn
University of Gdansk
Gdansk, Poland

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Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Clinical Microbiology

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