Abstract
Successful implementation of lytic virulent bacteriophages in clinical practice requires convincing evidence of its safety and efficacy. Design: We searched in CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and Russian-language literature databases in May 2018. Original articles must fulfill the following eligibility criteria: randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of phage therapy in people with bacterial infections; at least one patient outcome was reported. Three review authors independently selected studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. We used random-effects models for meta-analysis. Participants: adults and children of both sexes with bacterial infection, including multi-drug resistant variants, or individuals at risk of infection. Outcomes: recovery or resolution of infection; clinical improvement; change in number of exacerbations; recurrence of infection; quality of life; elimination or load reduction of a pathogen in an anatomical compartment. Results: We included 13 trials (issued in 1965-2018) including 9 treatment studies and 4 prevention studies. Overall, eight randomized trials involved adults. Five studies addressed skin and soft tissues infections, six studies concerned intestinal infections, one study addressed respiratory tract infection and one study – ear infection. Across bias domains, 35-90% of trials scored low risk of bias. Meta-analysis for adverse events attributable to phages and for wound healing provided us with pooled relative risks of 0.74 (95% CI 0.68;1.2) and 0.91 (95% CI 0.68;1.2) respectively. Conclusions: Beneficial effect of bacteriophages can be demonstrated and not refuted. However, our study led to tentative conclusions. The conduct of well-designed and sufficiently powered trials would facilitate registration and wide accepting of bacteriophage treatment.
Translated title of the contribution | Efficiency of phage therapy in humans: Systematic review |
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Original language | Russian |
Pages (from-to) | 19-30 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Jurnal Infektologii |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
Keywords
- Adverse event
- Bacterial infection
- Bacteriophage
- Bias
- Meta-analysis
- Prophylaxis
- Systematic review
- Therapy
- Wound