Bacteriophages, or phages, may play a significant role in treating complex bacterial infections in prosthetic joints, according to new research. The findings suggest phage therapy could provide a potential treatment for managing such infections, including those involving antibiotic-resistant microbes.

The research is published in the July issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases (CID).

«The treatment for chronic prosthetic joint infection has been surgery plus antibiotics, with surgery being the backbone of therapy. When these efforts fail, there can be significant suffering, loss of limb, even death,» says author Gina Suh, M.D., Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist. «Phage therapy has the potential to be paradigm-shifting in how we treat infections in this era of increasing medical device use and antibiotic resistance.»

Phages are naturally occurring viruses found throughout the earth that target and kill specific bacterial cells, including those that have grown resistant to multiple antibiotics. The microscopic organisms, numbering in the billions, destroy bacteria by injecting their DNA or RNA into the bacteria to replicate and burst the cells open.

Although phage therapy is new to Mayo Clinic, the bacterial predators were discovered more than a century ago, predating antibiotics. Today, much of the basic science of phages remains to be discovered.

Dr. Suh oversaw the first phage treatment at Mayo Clinic in June 2019, when a 62-year-old man was facing potential amputation after multiple failed courses of antibiotics and surgery. The intravenous use of phage therapy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a compassionate-use basis.

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Materials provided by Mayo Clinic. Original written by Colette Gallagher. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.