Engineered phage therapy for the effective treatment of recurrent Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections: A hypothesis

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q3 MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL

Medical hypotheses Pub Date : 2024-09-15 DOI:10.1016/j.mehy.2024.111484

Xiangyu Cao , Hongkuan Deng

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The increasing rate of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceaer (CRE) infections poses a significant threat to global public health. Patients infected with CRE often experience frequent recurrences after antibiotic treatment, making it difficult to cure. The design of better antimicrobials that can not only kill CRE but also disrupt biofilms and eliminate persister cells will play a crucial role in improving antibacterial efficacy and preventing recurrent infections. In this hypothesis, we employ an innovative “water pipe” theory to elucidate the potential underlying causes of CRE infection recurrence. We propose a potential therapeutic approach utilizing engineered phages to combat CRE infections, demonstrating the mechanism of action of phages carrying lytic enzymes or antimicrobial peptides against biofilms and persister cells. Furthermore, we evaluate its efficacy and feasibility, which may effectively address the recurrence of CRE infections and reduce antibiotic usage.

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工程噬菌体疗法可有效治疗复发性耐碳青霉烯类肠杆菌感染：一种假设

耐碳青霉烯类肠杆菌（CRE）感染率的上升对全球公共卫生构成了重大威胁。感染 CRE 的患者在接受抗生素治疗后往往会频繁复发，因此很难治愈。设计出更好的抗菌药物，不仅能杀死 CRE，还能破坏生物膜和消除顽固细胞，这对提高抗菌效果和预防复发感染将起到至关重要的作用。在这一假设中，我们采用了创新的 "水管 "理论来阐明 CRE 感染复发的潜在根本原因。我们提出了一种利用工程噬菌体对抗 CRE 感染的潜在治疗方法，展示了携带溶菌酶或抗菌肽的噬菌体对抗生物膜和顽固细胞的作用机制。此外，我们还评估了这种方法的有效性和可行性，认为它可以有效解决 CRE 感染的复发问题并减少抗生素的使用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medical hypotheses 医学-医学：研究与实验

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

2.10%

发文量

167

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Medical Hypotheses is a forum for ideas in medicine and related biomedical sciences. It will publish interesting and important theoretical papers that foster the diversity and debate upon which the scientific process thrives. The Aims and Scope of Medical Hypotheses are no different now from what was proposed by the founder of the journal, the late Dr David Horrobin. In his introduction to the first issue of the Journal, he asks ''what sorts of papers will be published in Medical Hypotheses? and goes on to answer ''Medical Hypotheses will publish papers which describe theories, ideas which have a great deal of observational support and some hypotheses where experimental support is yet fragmentary''. (Horrobin DF, 1975 Ideas in Biomedical Science: Reasons for the foundation of Medical Hypotheses. Medical Hypotheses Volume 1, Issue 1, January-February 1975, Pages 1-2.). Medical Hypotheses was therefore launched, and still exists today, to give novel, radical new ideas and speculations in medicine open-minded consideration, opening the field to radical hypotheses which would be rejected by most conventional journals. Papers in Medical Hypotheses take a standard scientific form in terms of style, structure and referencing. The journal therefore constitutes a bridge between cutting-edge theory and the mainstream of medical and scientific communication, which ideas must eventually enter if they are to be critiqued and tested against observations.