Phage Therapy in Burn Wound Patients : an excellent Work

From: www.plosone.org
 
 “Quality-Controlled Small-Scale Production of a Well-Defined Bacteriophage Cocktail for Use in Human Clinical Trials”

This scientific work points out all steps(*) for producing a Bacteriophage Cocktail used for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus infections in burn wound patients.

-*Titration of bacteriophage suspensions using the agar overlay method

-*Initial isolation, separation and purification of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus lytic bacteriophages

-*Production of bacteriophage stocks

-*Selection of therapeutic bacteriophages

-*Composition and endotoxin purification of the bacteriophage cocktail

-*Final quality control

-*Pyrogenicity

-*Sterility

-Transmission electron microscopy

-*Exclusion of temperate bacteriophages from the host strains

-*Genome sequencing and proteomic analysis

-*Cytotoxicity towards keratinocytes

-*Stability at 4°C

-*Stability after spraying

-*Batch record file

-*Clinical application

Burns

Italy

"A homeless Indian immigrant has been beaten up and set on fire near Rome. The victim, who has been admitted to hospital with serious burns, was sleeping at the train station in the town of Nettuno when he was attacked by three young men. They beat him brutally and set him on fire using petrol".

The depth of a Burn determines its severity.

Burn Wound Infections.

Phage Therapy and Burns (Video)




                                                                               

Sellano: the Statutes of the medieval castle

A copy of  the  Statutes book of  the medieval castle of Sellano  written in the year 1374  is still in good condition and  well preserved  in the Library of  the Senate of the Italian Republic.   The book consists of  five bodies of laws.

The first settlement of Sellano's castle

What have happened to Biocontrol Limited company and to product Biophage-PA?

 I have written this post many years ago .

" Concrete Evidence for Phage Therapy

Wednesday, 25 November 2009

From:

"A controlled clinical trial of a therapeutic
bacteriophage preparation in chronic otitis
due to antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa;a preliminary report of efficacy"

UCL Ear Institute and Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, Grays Inn Road, London, and Biocontrol Limited, BioCity, Pennyfoot Street, Nottingham, UK Clin. Otolaryngol. 2009, 34, 349–357

The present controlled trial of bacteriophages indicates that this form of biological therapy has considerable promise.


Digital photography before (a) and after (b) in patient A0012.
Patient A0012 had a longstanding resistant otitis externa. There was swelling of the deep canal skin and ulceration in the roof of the canal adjacent to the tympanic membrane. By day 42 this had resolved and the patient was essentially symptom free"



What have happened to phage product Biophage-PA for the treatment of chronic inner ear infections and  to phage product BioPhage-PR for the treatment of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients?  

BioVet-PA and BioPhage-PA from Biocontrol Limited

The first step is to collect the information about  Biocontrol Limited  company ( the link in the old post  is not active).

 By this document emerges that the main products were phages for Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a potential use in different clinical situations. Biocontrol Limited company   is now a subsidary of AmpliPhi Biosciences Corporation.

 Link
 

 The treatment of chronic inner ear infections by phages in theory is more easy respect the treatment of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients because the infection of the inner ear is an infection ouside the body and  for that reason is the best situation for a  lytic action  by phages. 

Why after 5 years (2009-2014) there are not others  clinical evaluations on the field for this Phage cocktail (six phages) regarding the treatment of chronic inner ear infections ?
The inner ear is accessible to phages and this anatomical position is  good  because the obstacle presence to the action  of  phages is limited. Are there some reasons? One reason could be the biofilm presence  that does not allow the action of phage cocktail.

From this web site there is the confirmation :

My  objections:
Is necessary to render the biofilm pemeable to Phages before to start in the treatment of chronic inner ear infections by phage cocktail  ?
Is a broad-spectrum phage cocktail  impossible to prepare for this clinical patology   because it is necessary to customize the cocktail for each patient  like the document described above?

The Sellano's old gates

The medieval  walls of the  Sellano's  castle had arranged by two order walls  that followed  the sloping ground of the hill facing up to the Montesanto's castle.
In the castle walls there were five gates:

 Porta dell' Annunziata ( the Annunciation gate,  Our Lady of the Annunciation) 
It was located close to the ruined church having the same name and nearby to the old "Borgo" of Sellano.The gate is still visible and incorpored inside of a civil house.

                                       

The Sellano's old settlement

Porta Santa Croce (the Holy Cross gate)
This gate was located below the Annunciation gate in theVigi water mill direction.
The place is called "la Croce ".The gate is not visible now.

Porta Sant'Angelo (the Saint Angel gate)
The gate was located close to the ruined church having the same name.The gate is not visible now.


La Portella (the Portella gate) 
This gate could be located  in the place of Sellano called "Rocchetta".

Porta di Santa Maria or Porta Spoletina (the Saint Mary gate or Spoleto gate)
This gate was located nearby the Santa Maria church.Today it is visible only the tower portion close to "Stella Bar".