review · Microbial Pathogenesis
Antibiotic resistance poses a major worldwide health threat, prompting renewed interest in bacteriophages as alternative treatments. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically target, infect, and destroy bacteria. Evidence gathered from recent studies highlights key advantages of phage therapy over traditional antibiotics, including high specificity toward target pathogens, the capacity to penetrate bacterial biofilms, and a reduced likelihood of inducing resistance. However, widespread clinical use faces notable obstacles. These include complex regulatory frameworks, manufacturing bottlenecks, potential emergence of bacterial resistance to phages, and interactions with the host immune system. Progress in genetic engineering is expanding therapeutic options, and personalised phage therapy is gaining ground as a workable strategy for tailored medical treatment. Continued research, technical improvements, and collaborative initiatives are essential to bring phage treatments into routine clinical healthcare.
Drug-resistant bacterial infections increasingly undermine standard medical care globally. Phage therapy provides a targeted biological alternative capable of eliminating problematic bacteria without causing the broad damage or resistance patterns common to standard antibiotics. Understanding the current scientific and regulatory progress helps healthcare systems and researchers assess new tools to combat critical antimicrobial resistance threats.
The review highlights targeted therapeutic applications for treating drug-resistant bacterial infections, likely utilised by clinicians and pharmaceutical developers. While personalised treatments and engineered phages show therapeutic promise, commercialisation remains constrained by unresolved manufacturing challenges and regulatory barriers. The approach is in an intermediate phase, advancing through clinical trials and laboratory development but still requiring substantial standardisation before reaching mainstream clinical markets.
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The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections has become a significant global health threat, necessitating the need for alternative therapeutic strategies. The use of bacteriophages-viruses that particularly infect and lyse bacteria-in phage therapy has resurfaced as a potentially effective substitute for conventional antibiotics. This narrative review aims to explore the mechanisms, applications, challenges, and prospects of phage therapy in combating antibiotic-resistant infections. A thorough analysis of the literature was carried out by exploring online databases, such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search focused on peer-reviewed articles, clinical trials, and authoritative reports published in the last 10 years. The review synthesized findings from studies on phage mechanisms, therapeutic applications, regulatory challenges, and advances in phage engineering. Phage therapy demonstrates several advantages over antibiotics, including high specificity for target bacteria, the ability to penetrate biofilms, and a lower propensity for resistance development. However, significant challenges remain, such as regulatory and production hurdles, the potential for phage resistance, and interactions with the host immune system. Advances in genetic engineering have enhanced the therapeutic potential of phages, and personalized phage therapy is emerging as a viable approach for tailored treatments. Phage therapy holds significant promise as an alternative to antibiotics, particularly in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. While challenges persist, ongoing research, technological advancements, and collaborative efforts are crucial for integrating phage therapy into mainstream clinical practice, potentially revolutionizing the treatment of bacterial infections and addressing the global antibiotic resistance crisis.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2024.107088
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