New antibacterial microporous CaP materials loaded with phages for prophylactic treatment in bone surgery.

Hydroxyapatite and beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) are materials commonly used in bone repair. The most important problem occurring in bone repair surgery is bacterial infection which is usually overcome by treatment with antibiotics. Currently, emergence of multidrug resistant strains has led to development of alternative treatments such as phage therapy. Phages are bacterial viruses with several advantages over chemotherapy such as specificity of bacterial strain, no side effects and fast response. This study evaluates the possibility of loading hydroxyapatite and β-tricalcium phosphate ceramics used as bone substitutes with phages and their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli K12. The majority of phages were retained in dense and microporous HA and β-TCP samples during at least 6 days suggesting the occurrence of strong interaction between phages and ceramics, which did not prevent bacterial attachment and lysis. This study has shown for the first time that phage loaded ceramics could be used in prophylactic treatments.