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Review
. 2024 Mar 8;16(3):374.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16030374.

Phage Delivery Strategies for Biocontrolling Human, Animal, and Plant Bacterial Infections: State of the Art

Marta M D C Vila  1 , Liliane M N Balcão  1 , Victor M Balcão  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Phage Delivery Strategies for Biocontrolling Human, Animal, and Plant Bacterial Infections: State of the Art

Marta M D C Vila et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

This review aims at presenting the main strategies that are currently available for the delivery of bacteriophages to combat bacterial infections in humans, animals, and plants. It can be seen that the main routes for phage delivery are topical, oral, systemic, and airways for humans. In animals, the topical and oral routes are the most used. To combat infections in plant species, spraying the plant's phyllosphere or drenching the soil are the most commonly used methods. In both phage therapy and biocontrol using phages, very promising results have been obtained so far. However, more experiments are needed to establish forms of treatment and phage doses, among other parameters. Furthermore, in general, there is a lack of specific standards for the use of phages to combat bacterial infections.

Keywords: animal and plant bacterial infections; human; phage delivery strategies; phage therapy; phage-based biocontrol.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis; in the decision to publish; or in the preparation of the manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline in the development of phages as potential therapeutic agents for bacterial infections.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Potential applications of bacteriophages.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ways in which phage virions can be delivered.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Different animal species that can be treated with phagotherapy in farms, aquaculture settings, and also types of companion animals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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