{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T12:25:30Z","timestamp":1780057530916,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,26]],"date-time":"2022-03-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1648252800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100020594","name":"Israel institute for biological research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SB-20"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SB-20"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100020594","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Plague pandemics and outbreaks have killed millions of people during the history of humankind. The disease, caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, is currently treated effectively with antibiotics. However, in the case of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, alternative treatments are required. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy has shown efficient antibacterial activity in various experimental animal models and in human patients infected with different MDR pathogens. Here, we evaluated the efficiency of \u0444A1122 and PST phage therapy, alone or in combination with second-line antibiotics, using a well-established mouse model of pneumonic plague. Phage treatment significantly delayed mortality and limited bacterial proliferation in the lungs. However, the treatment did not prevent bacteremia, suggesting that phage efficiency may decrease in the circulation. Indeed, in vitro phage proliferation assays indicated that blood exerts inhibitory effects on lytic activity, which may be the major cause of treatment inefficiency. Combining phage therapy and second-line ceftriaxone treatment, which are individually insufficient, provided protection that led to the survival of all infected animals\u2014a synergistic protective effect that represents a proof of concept for efficient combinatorial therapy in an emergency event of a plague outbreak involving MDR Y. pestis strains.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v14040688","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,27]],"date-time":"2022-03-27T21:31:25Z","timestamp":1648416685000},"page":"688","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Phage Therapy Potentiates Second-Line Antibiotic Treatment against Pneumonic Plague"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yaron","family":"Vagima","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Gur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moshe","family":"Aftalion","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3838-9707","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarit","family":"Moses","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yinon","family":"Levy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4274-2224","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arik","family":"Makovitzki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tzvi","family":"Holtzman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6466-6950","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ziv","family":"Oren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaniv","family":"Segula","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ella","family":"Fatelevich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Avital","family":"Tidhar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2750-5394","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayelet","family":"Zauberman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shahar","family":"Rotem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5685-293X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuelle","family":"Mamroud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1095-8477","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ida","family":"Steinberger-Levy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona 74100, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2281","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.283.17.2281","article-title":"Plague as a biological weapon: Medical and public health management","volume":"283","author":"Inglesby","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. 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Agents Chemother."}],"container-title":["Viruses"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/14\/4\/688\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T22:43:54Z","timestamp":1760136234000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-4915\/14\/4\/688"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,26]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4]]}},"alternative-id":["v14040688"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/v14040688","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2022.02.07.479346","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1999-4915"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1999-4915","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,26]]}}}