Bacteriophage and probiotic therapy in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa burn infection and their synergistic effect

Abstract

One of the most common bacteria in nosocomial and burn infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to the high antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa and the lack of other effective therapeutic agents, treating diseases caused by this bacterium could be challenging. Therefore, finding novel solutions to control and prevent highly resistant strains of P. aeruginosa is paramount. After isolation and identification of Lactobacilli with known probiotic properties such as L. acidophilus, L. paracasei, L. rhamnosus, and L. bulgaricus using PCR technique, and preparation of their corresponding phage (PAO1 Φ), probiotics and phage were used individually and in combination to treat burn infection caused by P. aeruginosa in a mouse model. The results revealed that the combination of phage with probiotics can be highly effective for treating P. aeruginosa burn infections. Our study showed that the most effective multiple cocktails of Lactobacilli for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection, were L. rhamnosus + L. bulgaricus + L. paracasei cocktail in mixture with phage (PAO1 Φ). The study proposes an alternative method for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infections. The combination of probiotics with phage could be proposed as a new therapeutic agent for treating P. aeruginosa infections.