As drug-resistant infections kill hundreds and thousands across the globe, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Dental Medicine propose bacteriophages to fight enteroccus faecalis, a drug-resistant pathogen often recovered after infections associated with root canal treatments, according to Sci-Tech Today.
While E. faecalis infections may persist in 20 percent 33 percent of root canals, Ronen Hazan, MD, and Nurit Beyth, MD, with other faculty and students have found a specifically peculiar virus that may find the e. faecalis bacteria, named EFDG, retrieved from a Jerusalem sewage treatment facility.
In cases where EFDG1 was evaluated for its efficacy against the liquid and biofilm form of E. faecalis, it "almost entirely eradicated the bacterial cultures," reported Sci-Tech Today. Furthermore, EFDG1 was "highly effective in root canal infection, both in vitro and ex vivo in tissue samples." EFDG1 was also tested for presence of hazardous genes, and the conclusion was the genome "does not contain apparent harmful genes."
"Phage therapy was first proposed at the start of the 20th century, but then abandoned for various reasons, including the striking success of chemical antibiotics," said Dr. Hazan to Sci-Tech Today. "Now we stand on the verge of a new era with the limitations of synthetic antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Thus, it is the right time to look again into what Mother Nature offers in the battle against bacteria."
Read more on dental...
Healthy Smiles Mobile Dental Foundation receives $103,000 grant
Hispanic Dental Association, payer collaborate to encourage diversity