Bacteriophage efficacy in controlling swine enteric colibacillosis pathogens: An in vitro study

Vet World Vol.15 December-2022 Article-9

Research Article

Veterinary World, 15(12): 2822-2829

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.2822-2829

Techaphon Songphasuk¹, Napakhwan Imklin², Pattaraporn Sriprasong², Yonlayong Woonwong³, Rujikan Nasanit², and Somchai Sajapitak⁴

1. Veterinary Clinical Study Program, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.
2. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand.
3. Department of Farm Resources and Production Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.
4. Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.

Background and Aim: Swine enteric colibacillosis caused by Escherichia coli is a major problem in the swine industry, causing diarrhea among swine and resulting in substantial financial losses. However, efforts to counter this disease are impeded by the increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide, so intensive research is being conducted to identify alternative treatments. This study isolated, characterized, and evaluated the efficacy of bacteriophages to control pathogens causative of swine enteric colibacillosis.

Materials and Methods: Five sewage samples were collected from different areas of a swine farm in Suphanburi province, Thailand and the bacteriophages were enriched and isolated, followed by purification by the agar overlay method using E. coli RENR as the host strain. The selected phages were characterized by evaluating their morphology, while their specificity was verified by the host range test. The efficiency of plating and multiplicity of infection (MOI) were also determined.

Results: Four selected phages, namely, vB_Eco-RPNE4i3, vB_Eco-RPNE6i4, vB_Eco-RPNE7i1, and vB_Eco-RPNE8i3, demonstrated different patterns of host range and phage efficiency. They significantly decreased E. coli concentration at the tested MOIs (0.01–100) from 1 h onward. However, bacterial regrowth was observed in all phage treatments.

Conclusion: This study shows the potential of using phages as an alternative treatment for swine enteric colibacillosis. The obtained results demonstrated that the selected phages had a therapeutic effect against pathogens causative of swine enteric colibacillosis. Therefore, phages could be applied as an alternative treatment to control specific bacterial strains and reduce AMR arising from the overuse of antibiotics. Keywords: bacteriophages, colibacillosis, diarrhea, Escherichia coli, swine.

Keywords: bacteriophages, colibacillosis, diarrhea, Escherichia coli, swine.

How to cite this article: Songphasuk T, Imklin N, Sriprasong P, Woonwong Y, Nasanit R, and Sajapitak S (2022) Bacteriophage efficacy in controlling swine enteric colibacillosis pathogens: An in vitro study, Veterinary World, 15(12): 2822–2829.

Received: 31-08-2022 Accepted: 01-11-2022 Published online: 12-12-2022

Corresponding author: Rujikan Nasanit and Somchai Sajapitak E-mail: nasanit_r@su.ac.th and fvetscs@ku.ac.th

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.2822-2829

Copyright: Songphasuk, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.