TY - JOUR
T1 - A case of in situ phage therapy against staphylococcus aureus in a bone allograft polymicrobial biofilm infection
T2 - Outcomes and phage-antibiotic interactions
AU - Pirnay, Jean Paul
AU - Merabishvili, Maya
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Phage therapy (PT) shows promising potential in managing biofilm infections, which in-clude refractory orthopedic infections. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who developed chronic polymicrobial biofilm infection of a pelvic bone allograft after Ewing’s sarcoma resection surgery. Chronic infection by Clostridium hathewayi, Proteus mirabilis and Finegoldia magna was worsened by methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus exhibiting an inducible Macrolides-Lincosamides-Streptogramin B resistance phenotype (iMLSB). After failure of conventional conservative treatment, combination of in situ anti-S. aureus PT with surgical debridement and intravenous antibiotic therapy led to marked clinical and microbiological improvement, yet failed to prevent a recurrence of infection on the midterm. This eventually led to surgical graft replacement. Multiple factors can explain this midterm failure, among which incomplete coverage of the polymicrobial infection by PT. Indeed, no phage therapy against C. hathewayi, P. mirabilis or F. magna could be administered. Phage-antibiotic interactions were investigated using OmniLog® technology. Our results suggest that phage-antibiotic interactions should not be considered “unconditionally synergistic”, and should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Specific pharmacodynamics of phages and antibiotics might explain these differences. More than two years after final graft replacement, the patient remains cured of her sarcoma and no further infections occurred.
AB - Phage therapy (PT) shows promising potential in managing biofilm infections, which in-clude refractory orthopedic infections. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who developed chronic polymicrobial biofilm infection of a pelvic bone allograft after Ewing’s sarcoma resection surgery. Chronic infection by Clostridium hathewayi, Proteus mirabilis and Finegoldia magna was worsened by methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus exhibiting an inducible Macrolides-Lincosamides-Streptogramin B resistance phenotype (iMLSB). After failure of conventional conservative treatment, combination of in situ anti-S. aureus PT with surgical debridement and intravenous antibiotic therapy led to marked clinical and microbiological improvement, yet failed to prevent a recurrence of infection on the midterm. This eventually led to surgical graft replacement. Multiple factors can explain this midterm failure, among which incomplete coverage of the polymicrobial infection by PT. Indeed, no phage therapy against C. hathewayi, P. mirabilis or F. magna could be administered. Phage-antibiotic interactions were investigated using OmniLog® technology. Our results suggest that phage-antibiotic interactions should not be considered “unconditionally synergistic”, and should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Specific pharmacodynamics of phages and antibiotics might explain these differences. More than two years after final graft replacement, the patient remains cured of her sarcoma and no further infections occurred.
KW - Antibiotic-bacteriophage combination
KW - Bacteriophage
KW - Chronic osteitis
KW - Phage therapy
KW - Phage-antibiotic interactions
KW - Phage-antibiotic synergy
KW - Polymicrobial biofilm
KW - Staphylococcus aureus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115857949&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/v13101898
DO - 10.3390/v13101898
M3 - Article
C2 - 34696328
AN - SCOPUS:85115857949
SN - 1999-4915
VL - 13
JO - Viruses
JF - Viruses
IS - 10
M1 - 1898
ER -