Could bacteriophages isolated from the sewage be the solution to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus?
Introductions: The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicates the treatment of the simplest infection. Although glycopeptides such as vancomycin still proves to be effective in treating MRSA infections, the emergence of vancomy...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Malaysian Medical Association
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29463/1/Nurul.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29463/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32281590 |
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| Summary: | Introductions: The emergence of multidrug-resistant
bacteria such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) complicates the treatment of the simplest
infection. Although glycopeptides such as vancomycin still proves to be effective in treating MRSA infections, the emergence of vancomycin-resistant strains limits the long term use of this antibiotic. Bacteriophages are ubiquitous bacterial viruses which is capable of infecting and killing bacteria including its antibiotic-resistant strains. Bactericidal bacteriophages use mechanisms that is distinct from antibiotics and is not affected by the antibioticresistant phenotypes.
Objectives: The study was undertaken to evaluate the
possibility to isolate bacteriolytic bacteriophages against S.aureus from raw sewage water and examine their efficacy as antimicrobial agents in vitro.
Methods: Bacteriophages were isolated from the raw
sewage using the agar overlay method. Isolated
bacteriophages were plaque purified to obtain homogenous
bacteriophage isolates. The host range of the
bacteriophages was determined using the spot test assay
against the 25 MRSA and 36 MSSA isolates obtained from
the Sarawak General Hospital. Staphylococcus
saprophyticus, Staphylococcus sciuri and Staphylococcus
xylosus were included as non-SA controls. The identity of
the bacteriophages was identified via Transmission Electron Microscopy and genomic size analysis. Their stability at different pH and temperature were elucidated.
Results: A total of 10 lytic bacteriophages infecting S.aureus were isolated and two of them namely ΦNUSA-1 and
ΦNUSA-10 from the family of Myoviridae and Siphoviridae
respectively exhibited exceptionally broad host range
against >80% of MRSA and MSSA tested. Both bacteriophages were specific to S.aureus and stable at both
physiologic pH and temperature.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated the abundance of
S.aureus specific bacteriophages in raw sewage. Their high virulence against both MSSA and MRSA is an excellent
antimicrobial characteristic which can be exploited for
bacteriophage therapy against MRSA. |
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