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A1. Novel agents
Oral Abstract Submission
Natalia Malachowa, PhD
Staff Scientist
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Hamilton, MT
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Adeline Porter, BS
Microbiologist
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Hamilton, MT
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Brett Freedman, BS
Microbiologist
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Hamilton, MT
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Scott Kobayashi, PhD
Staff Scientist
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Hamilton, MT
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Sankar Adhya, PhD
Senior Investigator
National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, MD
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Frank DeLeo, PhD
Senior Investigator and Lab Chief
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Hamilton, MT
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose
Background :
Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is being considered as a treatment option for patients with multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. However, there is a dearth of controlled clinical data to support therapeutic phage efficacy. As a first step towards addressing this deficiency, we tested the ability of two well-characterized phages, alone and in combination, to kill carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (ST258) in blood in vitro and rescue mice from lethal ST258 infection.
Methods :
Wild-type C57BL/6J mice were infected with a lethal inoculum of ST258 by intra-peritoneal (IP) injection followed 1 hour later by IP administration of lytic phage P1, P2, or P1+P2 at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) estimated at 1. Survival of each group of mice was tracked for 10 days. In separate experiments, mice were sacrificed at 1 hour, 24 hours and 48 hours post-phage treatment. Mouse blood and tissues were collected at each timepoint for enumeration of bacteria and phage, screening for phage resistance, and histopathology.
Results :
ST258 survival in mouse blood in vitro was significantly less after 1 hour of incubation with P1 or P1+P2 (MOI 1) compared with the control group (no phage). Consistent with the in vitro data, none of the mice (0/15) in the control group (no phage) survived to 10 days post-infection, whereas 12/15, 14/15 and 15/15 mice survived in the P2, P1 and P1+P2-treated groups, respectively (p<0.0001).
Conclusion :
Prompt, systemic administration of lytic bacteriophages rescued mice from lethal ST258 infection. These data support the potential of phage therapy to effectively treat infections caused by ST258. It will be important to assess whether, for other phage-bacteria combinations, in vitro lysis in blood correlates with in vivo treatment efficacy and therefore may have predictive utility.