Engineered bacteriophages for treatment of a patient with a disseminated drug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus

Nat Med. 2019 May;25(5):730-733. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0437-z. Epub 2019 May 8.

Abstract

A 15-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis with a disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infection was treated with a three-phage cocktail following bilateral lung transplantation. Effective lytic phage derivatives that efficiently kill the infectious M. abscessus strain were developed by genome engineering and forward genetics. Intravenous phage treatment was well tolerated and associated with objective clinical improvement, including sternal wound closure, improved liver function, and substantial resolution of infected skin nodules.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Cystic Fibrosis / microbiology
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Female
  • Genetic Engineering / methods
  • Humans
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / microbiology
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / therapy*
  • Mycobacterium abscessus* / drug effects
  • Phage Therapy / methods*