Phages were discovered to be anti-bacterial agents and were used throughout the 1940s in the Soviet Union for treating bacterial infections. They had widespread use including treating soldiers in the Red Army. However, they were abandoned for general use in the west for several reasons:
Medical trials were carried out, but a basic lack of understanding of phages made these invalid. Phage therapy was seen as untrustworthy, because many of the trials were conducted on totally unrelated diseases such as allergies and viral infections. Antibiotics were discovered and marketed widely. They were easier to make, store and to prescribe. Russian research continued but was published in Russian or Georgian, and was unavailable internationally for many years.
Their use has continued since the end of the Cold War in Georgia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. A monograph written by Nina Chanishvili in 2009, in Tbilisi, Georgia[11] gave a thorough analysis of the results of phage therapy. It was based on the data given in the old Soviet scientific literature.
The first regulated clinical trial of efficacy in Western Europe (against ear infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa) was reported in the journal Clinical Otolaryngology in August 2009.[12] Meanwhile, Western scientists are developing engineered viruses to overcome antibiotic resistance, and experimenting with tumor-suppressing agents.[13] One potential treatment currently under development is a phage designed to destroy MRSA.
What is a bacteriophage?
A bacteriophage (from 'bacteria' and Greek φαγεῖν phagein "to devour") is any one of a number of viruses that infect bacteria. They do this by injecting genetic material, which they carry enclosed in an outer protein capsid. The genetic material can be ssRNA, dsRNA, ssDNA, or dsDNA ('ss-' or 'ds-' prefix denotes single-strand or double-strand) along with either circular or linear arrangement.
Bacteriophages infect their host bacteria to produce more virus particles. At the end of the reproductive cycle (which may last up to an hour) they are faced with a problem, how to release the progeny phage trapped within the bacterium [1]. They solve this problem by producing an enzyme called lysin that degrades the cell wall of the infected bacteria to release the progeny phage.
The lytic system consists of a holin [1] and at least one peptidoglycan hydrolase, or lysin, capable of degrading the bacterial cell wall. Lysins can be endo-beta-N-acetyl-glucosaminidases or N-acetylmuramidases (lysozymes), which act on the sugar moiety, endopeptidases, which act on the peptide cross bridge, or more commonly, an N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase (or amidase), which hydrolyzes the amide bond connecting the sugar and peptide moieties.
Typically, the holin is expressed in the late stages of phage infection, forming a pore in the cell membrane, allowing the preformed lysin(s) to gain access to the cell wall peptidoglycan, resulting in release of progeny phage. Significantly, exogenously added lysin can lyse the cell wall of healthy, uninfected cells, producing a phenomenon known as lysis from without. However, because of the lack of an outer membrane, this event is observed only in gram-positive bacteria.
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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Wow - thought this would get more attention.
Too much reading and videos?
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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That was good.
Posts: 705 | From WA state | Registered: Jul 2011
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nefferdun
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Member # 20157
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Very complicated for my lymed brain to understand.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
They are putting bacteriophages in lunch meat. I saw it at Walmart. I don't know why they arn't used or explored more here. There are alot of studies about them in Russia. Maybe not enough money for the drug companies?
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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