Can viruses help treat bacterial skin infections? A growing body of research suggests that they can. One of the most prestigious journals in the field of clinical microbiology has published a review article on the use of bacteriophages in the treatment of skin infections and diseases. Among the co-authors of the publication was prof. dr hab. Alicja Węgrzyn, from the Phage Therapy Centre at the University of Gdańsk.
The article, published in the journal ‘Clinical Microbiology Reviews’ (Impact Factor 20.7), published by the American Society for Microbiology, is entitled Bacteriophages in the Treatment of Cutaneous Infections and Skin Disorders: Therapeutic Advances and Future Directions. In it, the authors present the latest state of knowledge on the use of bacteriophages (i.e. viruses that infect only bacterial cells and destroy them) in the treatment of skin infections and selected dermatological conditions.
The publication shows that the problem of chronic skin infections is becoming an increasingly serious challenge for modern medicine. Increasingly, standard antibiotic treatment is proving ineffective due to the growing resistance of bacteria to drugs and their formation of a biofilm – a complex structure that protects microorganisms from harmful environmental factors, including the effects of antibiotics and the patient’s immune system. It is precisely this biofilm that is responsible for many hard-to-heal wounds persisting for a very long time.
‘Infections associated with diabetic foot are a particularly dramatic example. Chronic wounds in people with diabetes are often subject to infections that are difficult to control using available treatment methods,’ notes prof. Alicja Węgrzyn. ‘In many cases, this leads to limb amputation, significantly impairing patients’ quality of life and generating enormous costs for the healthcare system.’
The authors emphasise that more effective control of biofilm-forming bacteria using bacteriophages and their enzymes could significantly improve patients’ prognosis.
In addition to hard-to-heal wounds, the review also covers other conditions in which bacteriophages may be of use. These include, amongst others, chronic acne caused by the bacterium Cutibacterium acnes, post-operative wound infections and burn infections. The authors also discuss research findings suggesting that bacteriophages may in future support the treatment of certain skin cancers, including melanoma, amongst other things by stimulating the patient’s immune response and enhancing the effectiveness of other therapeutic methods. Research in this area is still at an early stage, but the results are very promising.
The article also presents modern methods of administering bacteriophages directly to the skin. The researchers describe the use of hydrogels, active dressings, nanocarriers and other biomaterials that protect the phages from losing their activity and enable their gradual release at the site of infection. Such solutions may increase the effectiveness of therapy and accelerate wound healing.
The publication provides a comprehensive summary of the results of laboratory studies, experiments conducted on animal models, clinical trials and therapies used within ‘compassionate use’ programmes, i.e. the treatment of patients for whom standard therapeutic options have been exhausted. The authors also discuss the key challenges associated with the wider implementation of phage therapy into clinical practice, including regulatory, manufacturing and organisational issues.
Bacteriophages were discovered over a century ago, but it is only now, in an era of growing bacterial antibiotic resistance, that they have once again caught the attention of scientists and doctors worldwide. Thanks to their high specificity of action, they destroy only selected bacteria without affecting the body’s beneficial microflora. Furthermore, they are capable of effectively combating bacteria protected by biofilm structures, which remain one of the greatest obstacles in the treatment of chronic infections.
The publication, to which prof. Alicja Węgrzyn contributed, represents an important contribution to the development of research into phage therapy and demonstrates that bacteriophages may in future become a valuable complement to, or alternative for, antibiotics in the treatment of many difficult skin infections.
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