Bacteriophages isolated from mouse feces attenuates pneumonia mice caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 7; p. e0307079
• Main Authors: Sutnu, Nuttawut, Chancharoenthana, Wiwat, Kamolratanakul, Supitcha, Phuengmaung, Pornpimol, Singkham-In, Uthaibhorn, Chongrak, Chiratchaya, Montathip, Sirikan, Wannigama, Dhammika Leshan, Chatsuwan, Tanittha, Ounjai, Puey, Schultz, Marcus J, Leelahavanichkul, Asada
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16.07.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteremia; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Bacterial pneumonia; Bactericidal activity; Bacteriophages - isolation & purification; Bacteriophages - physiology; Biology and Life Sciences; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - microbiology; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid - virology; Bronchus; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; Cytokines - metabolism; Elastase; Extracellular Traps; Feces; Feces - microbiology; Feces - virology; Female; Gram-negative bacteria; Gram-positive bacteria; Health aspects; Immunofluorescence; Lavage; Leukocytes (neutrophilic); Lung - microbiology; Lung - virology; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mice; Neutrophils - immunology; Peroxidase; Phage Therapy - methods; Phages; Pneumonia; Pneumonia - microbiology; Pneumonia - therapy; Pneumonia - virology; Pneumonia, Bacterial - microbiology; Pneumonia, Bacterial - therapy; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - virology; Pseudomonas Infections - microbiology; Pseudomonas Infections - therapy; Streptococcus infections; Trachea; Tumor necrosis factor-α; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307079

Most of the current bacteriophages (phages) are mostly isolated from environments. However, phages isolated from feces might be more specific to the bacteria that are harmful to the host. Meanwhile, some phages from the environment might affect non-pathogenic bacteria for the host. Here, bacteriophages isolated from mouse feces were intratracheally (IT) or intravenously (IV) administered in pneumonia mice caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 2 hours post-intratracheal bacterial administration. As such, the mice with phage treatment, using either IT or IV administration, demonstrated less severe pneumonia as indicated by mortality, serum cytokines, bacteremia, bacterial abundance in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in lung tissue (immunofluorescence of neutrophil elastase and myeloperoxidase). Interestingly, the abundance of phages in BALF from the IT and IV injections was similar, supporting a flexible route of phage administration. With the incubation of bacteria with neutrophils, the presence of bacteriophages significantly improved bactericidal activity, but not NETs formation, with the elevated supernatant IL-6 and TNF-α, but not IL-1β. In conclusion, our findings suggest that bacteriophages against Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be discovered from feces of the host. The phages attenuate pneumonia partly through an enhanced neutrophil bactericidal activity, but not via inducing NETs formation. The isolation of phages from the infected hosts themselves might be practically useful for future treatment. More studies are warranted.