Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Bacteriophages kill most E. coli causing dog and cat urinary
By Freitag, T et al.·Published in Research in veterinary science·2008·Institute of Veterinary·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Naturally occurring bacteriophages lyse a large proportion of canine and feline uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates in vitro.
Plain-English summary
A study found that most urinary tract infections (UTIs) in dogs and cats caused by E. coli could potentially be treated with bacteriophages, which are viruses that specifically target bacteria. Out of 53 E. coli strains tested, 94% were killed by one or more of the 40 different bacteriophages used in the study. This suggests that bacteriophage therapy could be an effective new treatment option for pets suffering from these infections. While this research is still in the early stages, it shows promise for future treatments.
People also search for: dog urinary tract infection treatment · cat UTI bacteriophage therapy · E. coli in pets · how to treat dog UTI naturally
Abstract
We investigated the feasibility of bacteriophage therapy to combat canine and feline Escherichia coli urinary tract infections (UTIs) by testing the in vitro lytic ability of 40 naturally occurring bacteriophages on 53 uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC). The mean number of UPEC strains lysed by an individual bacteriophage was 21/53 (40%, range 17-72%). In total, 50/53 (94%) of the UPEC strains were killed by one or more of the bacteriophages. Ten bacteriophages lysed 51% of UPEC strains individually and 92% of UPEC strains as a group. Electron microscopy and DNA sequencing of 5 'promising' bacteriophages revealed that 4 bacteriophages belonged to the lytic T4-like genus, while one displayed morphologic similarity to temperate P2-like bacteriophages. Overall, these results indicate that the majority of UPEC are susceptible to lysis by naturally occurring bacteriophages. Thus, bacteriophages show promise as therapeutic agents for treatment of canine and feline E. coli UTIs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17959211/