Targeting STEC-induced edema disease in weaned piglets: prophylactic oral phage P-GXEC-L2P5 attenuates bacterial colonization, toxin production, and endothelial damage.

ABSTRACT: Edema disease (ED), a fatal disease in weaned piglets, is caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). The increasing emergence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains has necessitated the exploration of alternatives such as bacteriophage therapy. Using a porcine model, this study evaluated the prophylactic effect of bacteriophage P-GXEC-L2P5 administered by oral gavage against ED. The novel phage P-GXEC-L2P5 was isolated using a multidrug-resistant (MDR) STEC strain GXEC-STL2 as the host. P-GXEC-L2P5 was identified as a member of Caudoviricetes, Dhillonvirus, with an 88,607 base pair (bp) genome, and it possessed a short latent period (10 min), moderate pH stability (5-10), and appropriate thermal tolerance (4-60 ℃). Piglets pretreated with P-GXEC-L2P5 showed no apparent clini

SUBMITTER: Ma R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12822307 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature