Combining bacteriophage and vancomycin is efficacious against MRSA biofilm-like aggregates formed in synovial fluid

Mariam Taha; Tia Arnaud; Tasia J Lightly; Danielle Peters; Liyuan Wang; Wangxue Chen; Bradley W M Cook; Steven S Theriault; Hesham Abdelbary

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1134912

Combining bacteriophage and vancomycin is efficacious against MRSA biofilm-like aggregates formed in synovial fluid

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Jun 9:10:1134912. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1134912. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mariam Taha^{1

2}, Tia Arnaud^{3

4}, Tasia J Lightly³, Danielle Peters⁵, Liyuan Wang⁶, Wangxue Chen^{5

7}, Bradley W M Cook³, Steven S Theriault^{3

4}, Hesham Abdelbary^{1

2

8}

Affiliations

¹ The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
² Division of Orthopedic Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
³ Cytophage Technologies Inc., Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
⁵ Human Health Therapeutics Research Center, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁶ Cell Biology and Image Acquisition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁷ Department of Biology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.
⁸ Department of Surgery, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Biofilm formation is a major clinical challenge contributing to treatment failure of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Lytic bacteriophages (phages) can target biofilm associated bacteria at localized sites of infection. The aim of this study is to investigate whether combination therapy of phage and vancomycin is capable of clearing Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-like aggregates formed in human synovial fluid.

Methods: In this study, S. aureus BP043, a PJI clinical isolate was utilized. This strain is a methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) biofilm-former. Phage Remus, known to infect S. aureus, was selected for the treatment protocol. BP043 was grown as aggregates in human synovial fluid. The characterization of S. aureus aggregates was assessed for structure and size using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and flow cytometry, respectively. Moreover, the formed aggregates were subsequently treated in vitro with: (a) phage Remus [∼10⁸ plaque-forming units (PFU)/ml], (b) vancomycin (500 μg/ml), or (c) phage Remus (∼10⁸ PFU/ml) followed by vancomycin (500 μg/ml), for 48 h. Bacterial survival was quantified by enumeration [colony-forming units (CFU)/ml]. The efficacy of phage and vancomycin against BP043 aggregates was assessed in vivo as individual treatments and in combination. The in vivo model utilized Galleria mellonella larvae which were infected with BP043 aggregates pre-formed in synovial fluid.

Results: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and flow cytometry data demonstrated the ability of human synovial fluid to promote formation of S. aureus aggregates. Treatment with Remus resulted in significant reduction in viable S. aureus residing within the synovial fluid aggregates compared to the aggregates that did not receive Remus (p < 0.0001). Remus was more efficient in eliminating viable bacteria within the aggregates compared to vancomycin (p < 0.0001). Combination treatment of Remus followed by vancomycin was more efficacious in reducing bacterial load compared to using either Remus or vancomycin alone (p = 0.0023, p < 0.0001, respectively). When tested in vivo, this combination treatment also resulted in the highest survival rate (37%) 96 h post-treatment, compared to untreated larvae (3%; p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: We demonstrate that combining phage Remus and vancomycin led to synergistic interaction against MRSA biofilm-like aggregates in vitro and in vivo.

Keywords: Galleria mellonella; Staphylococcus aureus; aggregates; biofilm; peri-prosthetic joint infection; phage; synovial fluid; vancomycin.

Grants and funding

This research was supported in part by the Research Program Award Grant (ID #20200226 and 20220189) through the Department of Surgery at the Ottawa Hospital. The in vivo work was funded by Cytophage Technologies Inc. External funding was not provided to Cytophage Technologies Inc., for this study. The funder had the following involvement with the study: in vivo experiment design, data collection and analysis, drafting the in vivo sections in the manuscript, and perform phage Remus lytic activities assay.