Cargando…

Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs

The increase of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) causes a threat to human health. LA-MRSA can be transmitted from animals to animal caretakers, which may further spread MRSA to communities and health care facilities. The objective of this work was to study t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tuomala, Henni, Verkola, Marie, Meller, Anna, Van der Auwera, Jasper, Patpatia, Sheetal, Järvinen, Asko, Skurnik, Mikael, Heikinheimo, Annamari, Kiljunen, Saija
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539482/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34696318
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13101888
_version_ 1784588757646704640
author Tuomala, Henni
Verkola, Marie
Meller, Anna
Van der Auwera, Jasper
Patpatia, Sheetal
Järvinen, Asko
Skurnik, Mikael
Heikinheimo, Annamari
Kiljunen, Saija
author_facet Tuomala, Henni
Verkola, Marie
Meller, Anna
Van der Auwera, Jasper
Patpatia, Sheetal
Järvinen, Asko
Skurnik, Mikael
Heikinheimo, Annamari
Kiljunen, Saija
author_sort Tuomala, Henni
collection PubMed
description The increase of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) causes a threat to human health. LA-MRSA can be transmitted from animals to animal caretakers, which may further spread MRSA to communities and health care facilities. The objective of this work was to study the efficacy of phage treatment in the eradication of LA-MRSA from healthy carrier pigs. A total of 19 MRSA -positive weanling pigs were assigned to a test (n = 10) and a control group (n = 9). A phage cocktail containing three Staphylococcus phages, or a control buffer was administered to the nares and skin of the pigs three times every two days, after which the phage and MRSA levels in nasal and skin swab samples were monitored for a three-week period. The sensitivity of the strains isolated during the follow-up period to the phage cocktail and each phage individually was analyzed and the pig sera were tested for antibodies against the phages used in the cocktail. The phage treatment did not cause any side effects to the pigs. Phages were found in the skin and nasal samples on the days following the phage applications, but there was no reduction in the MRSA levels in the sampled animals. Phage-resistant strains or phage-specific antibodies were not detected during the experiment. The MRSA load in these healthy carrier animals was only 10–100 CFU/swab or nasal sample, which was likely below the replication threshold of phages. The effectiveness of phage treatment to eradicate MRSA from the pigs could thus not be (reliably) determined.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8539482
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-85394822021-10-24 Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs Tuomala, Henni Verkola, Marie Meller, Anna Van der Auwera, Jasper Patpatia, Sheetal Järvinen, Asko Skurnik, Mikael Heikinheimo, Annamari Kiljunen, Saija Viruses Article The increase of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) causes a threat to human health. LA-MRSA can be transmitted from animals to animal caretakers, which may further spread MRSA to communities and health care facilities. The objective of this work was to study the efficacy of phage treatment in the eradication of LA-MRSA from healthy carrier pigs. A total of 19 MRSA -positive weanling pigs were assigned to a test (n = 10) and a control group (n = 9). A phage cocktail containing three Staphylococcus phages, or a control buffer was administered to the nares and skin of the pigs three times every two days, after which the phage and MRSA levels in nasal and skin swab samples were monitored for a three-week period. The sensitivity of the strains isolated during the follow-up period to the phage cocktail and each phage individually was analyzed and the pig sera were tested for antibodies against the phages used in the cocktail. The phage treatment did not cause any side effects to the pigs. Phages were found in the skin and nasal samples on the days following the phage applications, but there was no reduction in the MRSA levels in the sampled animals. Phage-resistant strains or phage-specific antibodies were not detected during the experiment. The MRSA load in these healthy carrier animals was only 10–100 CFU/swab or nasal sample, which was likely below the replication threshold of phages. The effectiveness of phage treatment to eradicate MRSA from the pigs could thus not be (reliably) determined. MDPI 2021-09-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8539482/ /pubmed/34696318 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13101888 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Tuomala, Henni
Verkola, Marie
Meller, Anna
Van der Auwera, Jasper
Patpatia, Sheetal
Järvinen, Asko
Skurnik, Mikael
Heikinheimo, Annamari
Kiljunen, Saija
Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title_full Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title_fullStr Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title_full_unstemmed Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title_short Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs
title_sort phage treatment trial to eradicate la-mrsa from healthy carrier pigs
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539482/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34696318
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13101888
work_keys_str_mv AT tuomalahenni phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT verkolamarie phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT melleranna phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT vanderauwerajasper phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT patpatiasheetal phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT jarvinenasko phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT skurnikmikael phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT heikinheimoannamari phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs
AT kiljunensaija phagetreatmenttrialtoeradicatelamrsafromhealthycarrierpigs