Urinary tract infections (UTIs), particularly cystitis, are a common issue for women, with half experiencing it at least once in their lives. Many suffer from repeated bouts.
These infections aren’t just uncomfortable and potentially severe; they also pose a significant challenge for doctors.
A major concern in treating UTIs is the rise of antibiotic resistance, making it harder for doctors to choose the right antibiotic because traditional methods to identify the bacteria causing the infection take days.
However, there’s a new development in the battle against UTIs.
Scientists from ETH Zurich, in collaboration with Balgrist University Hospital, have introduced a rapid test that employs bacteriophages, or phages for short.
Phages are viruses that prey on bacteria. The team has even gone a step further by genetically modifying these phages to boost their ability to kill bacteria. This groundbreaking work has been shared in Nature Communications.
Phages are unique because they target specific bacteria or bacterial strains.
Professor Martin Loessner and his team at ETH Zurich have utilized this specificity by identifying phages that are effective against the main culprits behind UTIs: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, and Enterococci.
These phages have been genetically altered to make infected bacteria produce a light signal, making detection from a urine sample possible in less than four hours.
This quick diagnosis could lead to the prompt prescription of the correct antibiotics, thereby reducing the chance of resistance and improving treatment outcomes.
The concept of phage therapy isn’t new; it has been around for over a century but was overshadowed by the discovery of antibiotics like penicillin.
With antibiotic resistance on the rise, interest in phage therapy is resurging. Phages are like precision weapons that target only specific bacteria.
The ETH Zurich researchers have enhanced this approach by modifying phages to not only replicate within the bacterial host but also to produce bacteriocins, proteins that are toxic to bacteria. This dual attack increases the potential effectiveness of the therapy.
The next steps involve clinical trials with selected patients to test this new phage therapy’s effectiveness.
Matthew Dunne, a key author of the study, highlights the global interest in both natural and genetically optimized phages through numerous academic and commercial clinical trials.
However, he points out that widespread application of phage therapy in Western countries will require extensive clinical studies and changes to regulatory frameworks to acknowledge the adaptive nature of phages.
This innovative approach could revolutionize how we treat UTIs, offering a more effective and resistance-minded treatment option.
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