Potential of phage EF-N13 as an alternative treatment strategy for mastitis infections caused by multidrug-resistant Enterococcus faecalis

作者：Ji Y, Zhao Z, Jiang Q, Loor JJ, Song L, Ou H, Liu M, Sun C, Feng X, Lei L, Han W, Li X, Gu J · 发表于：Journal of dairy science · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3168/jds.2022-22892 · 研究领域：Bacteriophages、Cattle Diseases、Mastitis, Bovine、Animals、Cattle、Female、Mice、Anti-Bacterial Agents、Enterococcus faecalis

Bovine mastitis is the most common and costly disease affecting dairy cattle throughout the world. Enterococcus faecalis is one of the environmental origin mastitis-causing pathogens. The treatment of bovine mastitis is primarily based on antibiotics. Due to the negative impact of developing antibiotic resistance and adverse effects on soil and water environments, the trend toward use of nonantibiotic treatments is increasing. Phages may represent a promising alternative treatment strategy. However, it is unknown whether phages have therapeutic effects on E. faecalis-induced mastitis. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the degree of protection conferred by a phage during murine mastitis caused by multidrug-resistant E. faecalis. Enterococcus faecalis was isolated from the milk of dairy cows with mastitis, and a phage was isolated using the E. faecalis isolates as hosts. The bactericidal ability of the phage against E. faecalis and the ability to prevent biofilm formation were determined in vitro. The therapeutic potential of the phage on murine mastitis was evaluated in vivo. We isolated 14 strains of E. faecalis from the milk of cows with mastitis, all of which exhibited multidrug resistance, and most (10/14) could form strong biofilms. Subsequently, a new phage (EF-N13) was isolated using the multidrug-resistant E. faecalis N13 (isolated from mastitic milk) as the host. The phage EF-N13 belongs to the family Myoviridae, which has short latent periods (5 mi...