Bacteriophage Therapy in Selected Disease Entities: A Review of the Literature

Bacteriophage therapy is gaining increasing interest in the medical world due to the search for new treatments for bacterial infections in the era of antibiotic resistance. However, its use in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and infective endocarditis (IE) remains a challenge. Antimicrobial therapy with bacteriophages faces challenges such as the identification of the specific type of bacteriophage and the bacterium sensitive to it, the method of administration, and the safety of use. The aim of this paper is to review the available literature on the feasibility of bacteriophage therapy for CRS and IE, with a focus on its potential as an alternative or adjunctive approach to conventional antibiotic treatment. The analysis was based on articles available on the PubMed platform; original publications describing experimental trials investigating the potential efficacy of bacteriophages in the treatment of CRS and IE, published within the last 10 years, were selected for this review. Articles were searched using the following keywords: "phage therapy," "chronic rhinosinusitis," and "phage therapy infective endocarditis." A total of 54 articles were found, of which seven original papers were included in the review after reviewing the abstracts. Bacteriophage therapy has shown promising potential in the treatment of CRS and IE, but its clinical application remains limited by challenges such as the identification of susceptible bacterial strains, mode of administration, dosage, and safety of use. Future research must be done to unlock the full therapeutic potential of bacteriophage therapy for these indications.