A combination therapy of Phages and Antibiotics: Two is better than one

• Published in: International journal of biological sciences Vol. 17; no. 13; pp. 3573 - 3582
• Main Authors: Li, Xianghui, He, Yuhua, Wang, Zhili, Wei, Jiacun, Hu, Tongxin, Si, Jiangzhe, Tao, Guangzhao, Zhang, Lei, Xie, Longxiang, Abdalla, Abualgasim Elgaili, Wang, Guoying, Li, Yanzhang, Teng, Tieshan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Ivyspring International Publisher Pty Ltd 01.01.2021; Ivyspring International Publisher
• Subjects: Adsorption; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacteriophage Receptors - genetics; Biofilms; Clinical medicine; Combined Modality Therapy; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; E coli; Enzymes; Global health; Humans; Molecular modelling; Pathogenicity; Pathogens; Phage Therapy; Phages; Progeny; Public health; Review; State-of-the-art reviews; multidrug-resistance; phage-antibiotic synergy; bacterial anti-phage resistance; biofilm; phage therapy
• ISSN: 1449-2288; 1449-2288
• DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.60551

Emergence of antibiotic resistance presents a major setback to global health, and shortage of antibiotic pipelines has created an urgent need for development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is considered as a potential approach for treatment of the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Phage-antibiotic synergy (PAS) refers to sublethal concentrations of certain antibiotics that enhance release of progeny phages from bacterial cells. A combination of phages and antibiotics is a promising strategy to reduce the dose of antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistance during treatment. In this review, we highlight the state-of-the-art advancements of PAS studies, including the analysis of bacterial-killing enhancement, bacterial resistance reduction, and anti-biofilm effect, at both and levels. A comprehensive review of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of phage antibiotic synergy is provided, and synthetic biology approaches used to engineer phages, and design novel therapies and diagnostic tools are discussed. In addition, the role of engineered phages in reducing pathogenicity of bacteria is explored.