Efficacy of Salmonella bacteriophage S1 delivered and released by alginate beads
The search for alternative methods to treat bacterial infections has yielded promising results with phage therapy.
By using viruses that specifically target and kill harmful bacteria, phages offer a targeted approach with less potential for harming beneficial microbes and developing antibiotic resistance.
In recent years, scientific advances have enabled the practical use of phages in veterinary medicine, particularly for the treatment of bacterial infections in birds.
In one such method, phages are encapsulated in polymer beads that allow controlled release at the site of infection in the small intestine.
In research, this release system has been successfully used to treat Salmonella infections in poultry, providing a potential solution to one of the major causes of foodborne illness.
As our understanding and use of phage therapy continues to grow, it offers exciting opportunities to minimize the use of antibiotics and combat drug-resistant bacteria.
The authors Janeth Gomez-Garcia, Alejandra Chavez-Carbajal, Nallelyt Segundo-Arizmendi, Miriam G Baron-Pichardo, Susana E Mendoza-Elvira, Efren Hernandez-Baltazar, Alexander P Hynes, and Oscar Torres-Angeles published their findings in the article Efficacy of Salmonella Bacteriophage S1 Delivered and Released by Alginate Beads in a Chicken Model of Infection, dated 25 September 2021.
Key topics:
- A new method of bacteriophage (viruses that infect and kill bacteria) delivery has been developed using alginate beads.
- This delivery system allows the bacteriophage to be released in the small intestine where Salmonella spp. commonly cause infections.
- The phage formulation is an effective system for the release and delivery of bacteriophage S1 against Salmonella Enteritidis with potential benefits for the poultry sector.
Abstract
Modern bacteriophage encapsulation methods based on polymers such as alginate have been developed recently for their use in phage therapy for veterinary purposes.
In birds, it has been proven that using this delivery system allows the release of the bacteriophage in the small intestine, the site of infection by Salmonella spp.
This work designed an approach for phage therapy using encapsulation by ionotropic gelation of the lytic bacteriophage S1 for Salmonella enterica in 2% w/v alginate beads using 2% w/v calcium chloride as crosslinking agent. This formulation resulted in beads with an average size of 3.73 ± 0.04 mm and an encapsulation efficiency of 70%. In vitro, the beads protected the bacteriophages from pH 3 and released them at higher pH. To confirm that this would protect the bacteriophages from gastrointestinal pH changes, we tested the phage infectivity in vivo assay.
Using a model chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) infected with Salmonella Enteritidis, we confirmed that after 3 h of the beads delivery, infective phages were present in the chicken’s duodenal and caecal sections.
This study demonstrates that our phage formulation is an effective system for release and delivery of bacteriophage S1 against Salmonella Enteritidis with potential use in the poultry sector.
Keywords: Salmonella enteritidis; alginate; phage therapy; poultry sector.
Copyright: the authors.
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