Advantages of Phage Therapy

∞ generated and posted on 2016.09.26 ∞

The advantages of phage therapy are numerous and the disadvantages (in my opinion) relatively slight.

Please cite as:

Stephen T. Abedon
Advantages of Phage Therapy.
advantages.phage-therapy.org

The following are advantages that have been cited in publications as associated with phage therapy:

• "Bactericidal… Reduced potential for bacterial development of resistance," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "They are self-replicating but also self-limiting because they multiply only as long as sensitive bacteria are present." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "They can be targeted far more specifically than most antibiotics to the problem bacteria, causing much less damage to the normal microbial balance in the gut. The bacterial imbalance or 'dysbiosis' caused by many antibiotic treatments can lead to serious secondary infections involving relatively resistant bacteria, and often increasing hospitalization time, expense, and mortality" Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Narrow resistance evolution… Selection for resistance limited mostly to within populations of targeted bacteria," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Lack of cross-resistance… Antibiotic-resistant bacteria tend to retain phage sensitivity," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Rapid discovery process… Phages with large therapeutic windows are often simple to isolate," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Phages can often be targeted to receptors on the bacterial surface that are involved in pathogenesis, so any resistant mutants are attenuated in virulence." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Potential for modification… Phages can be easy to molecular characterize and manipulate," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Few side effects have been reported for phage therapy." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Low inherent toxicity… Virions consist of only proteins and DNA," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Phage therapy would be particularly useful for people with allergies to antibiotics." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Appropriately selected phages can easily be used prophylactically to help prevent bacterial disease at times of exposure or to sanitize hospitals and help protect against hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infections." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Biofilm clearance… Certain phages, unlike most chemical antibiotics, can be relatively good at this," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Dosing versatility… Phage formuations [sic] can take many forms and can be delivered via many routes," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Especially for external applications, phages can be prepared fairly inexpensively and locally, facilitating their potential applications to underserved populations." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Favorable pharmacokinetics… Delivery to targets or persistence in situ often is either good or improvable," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Phages can be used either independently or in conjunction with other antibiotics to help reduce the development of bacterial resistance." Kutter (2005)
  
  
• "Single-dose potential… Can provide dosing convenience," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Low-dosage potential… Of possible economic or safety utility," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Low environmental impact… Due to a combination of narrow spectrum of anti-bacterial activity, lability, and low inherent toxicity," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Not antibiotics… Fewer societal concerns with use, such as in agriculture," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Natural products… Potential appeal to natural medicinals market," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Relatively low cost… As drugs, reasonable production costs," Curtright and Abedon (2011)
  
  
• "Public perception… Public perception of the use of phages as antibacterials seemingly is positive," Curtright and Abedon (2011)

For similar lists, see that of Thomas Häusler as well as Loc-Carrillo and Abedon .