مقالات پذیرفته شده در نهمین کنگره بین المللی زیست پزشکی
Phage Therapy: An Innovative and Promising Frontier in the Battle Against Antimicrobial Resistance
Phage Therapy: An Innovative and Promising Frontier in the Battle Against Antimicrobial Resistance
Maedeh Torknaz,1,*
1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Basic Sciences (Fakhri Zadeh), Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) stands as one of the most daunting challenges to modern global health. Disturbing estimates from a recent Lancet report (2024) attributed 1.27 million deaths directly to AMR in 2019, with projections soaring to 10 million annual fatalities by 2050. This escalating crisis underscores a critical imperative for novel therapeutic strategies. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy, with its unique capacity to target resistant pathogens with precision, has consequently re-emerged as a powerful tool in the realm of personalized medicine, capturing significant interest from the scientific and clinical communities.
Methods: A meticulous, structured literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Key search terms included “Phage Therapy,” “Antimicrobial Resistance,” “CRISPR-Cas,” “Personalized Medicine,” and “Superbugs.” The selection criteria prioritized articles published between 2020 and 2024, with an emphasis on clinical trials, cohort studies, and systematic reviews.
Results: The accumulated evidence compellingly demonstrates the clinical viability of phage therapy. A landmark 2024 study in Nature Microbiology, involving 100 patients with incurable antibiotic-resistant infections, demonstrated that personalized phage cocktail therapy achieved a impressive 86% recovery rate without significant adverse effects. Concurrently, synthetic biology has paved the way for a new generation of “designer phages.” As highlighted in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2024), a CRISPR-Cas3 engineered phage successfully targeted and eradicated antibiotic resistance genes in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria while preserving the commensal microbiome—a breakthrough that effectively surmounts the classic limitation of narrow host range inherent to natural phages.
Conclusion: The collective findings affirm that phage therapy is rapidly evolving from a marginal alternative to an indispensable component of our antimicrobial arsenal. Its integration with advanced gene-editing platforms like CRISPR heralds a transformative shift in infectious disease management. However, significant hurdles regarding regulatory frameworks, standardized production, and the imperative for large-scale Phase III clinical trials remain. Given the grim projections associated with AMR, prioritizing investment and developing robust regulatory pathways for phage-based treatments must be a paramount global health objective. Phage therapy epitomizes the next frontier in personalized medicine—a frontier we are ethically and practically compelled to explore.