BACTERIOPHAGE-MEDIATED MODULATION OF MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT PATHOGENS AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT ENCAPSULATION IN SODIUM ALGINATE MICROSPHERES

Antibiotic resistance is one of the gravest threats to human health today. Antibiotic resistance has emerged among hazardous bacteria due to the widespread use of drugs for human health, marine life, and agricultural animals. In contrast, bacteriophages are viruses that parasitize other bacteria for sustenance. A host cell is necessary for phage development and may be found practically everywhere in this ecosystem. The emphasis of the research is on the therapeutic application of bacteriophages in the treatment of a Multidrug resistant potential bacterial pathogens isolated from hospital waste and identified as Staphylococcus saprophyticus ATCC 15305, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas sp. populations, as well as determining their MIC₉₀ value against four different antibiotics, are controlled with the use of bacteriophages recovered from waste as well as river water. In addition, the isolated bacteriophages are coated and packed into prepared sodium alginate microsomes. Furthermore, the stability of the microspheres is analyzed artificially under different simulated gastrointestinal conditions (phage titers of 4.7 Log₁₀ PFU/ml to 5.04 Log₁₀ PFU/ml were obtained after an incubation period of 1 hour and further increasing to 5.07Log₁₀ PFU/ml to 5.11 Log₁₀ PFU/ml after an incubation for 5 hours), pH (at pH 5.0, titers of 3.3 Log₁₀ PFU/ml to 3.6 Log₁₀ PFU/ml was obtained, whereas the phages were completely impotent when pH was lowered to 2.0) as well as their storage capacity at 4°C, with the goal of assessing the release as well as stability of bacteriophages for using it as a potential therapeutic intervention.