Fig. 1: Faster clinical improvement under phage treatment in a murine P. aeruginosa-induced VAP model. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Faster clinical improvement under phage treatment in a murine P. aeruginosa-induced VAP model.

From: Adjunctive phage therapy improves antibiotic treatment of ventilator-associated-pneumonia with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Fig. 1

a Experimental Plan created in BioRender. Nouailles, G. (2025) https://BioRender.com/c82e2a9. Naive mice (C57BL/6J WT, female, 8–10 weeks; Charles River) were ventilated for 4 h (h) under high tidal volume (HVt: 34 mL/kg body weight) triggering ventilator-induced lung injury. VAP was then induced by intratracheal (i. tr.) infection with PAO1 (5 × 104 CFU/20 µL), followed by extubation and two intraperitoneal (i. p.) treatments at 4 h post infection (hpi) and 16 hpi with meropenem (10 mg/mouse per injection), a Pseudomonas-specific phage cocktail (~5 × 107 PFU/phage per injection), or the combination of both. Control mice received NaCl (0.9 %) respectively. Analysis time point was 24 hpi. Graphs displaying (b) murine clinical disease score (see Supplementary Table S1), including c body temperature and d body weight change at indicated time points. Logarithmic display (Y = log(CFU + 1)) of e phage titers and f, g bacterial loads at 24 hpi in indicated organs (BAL, homogenized half lung (right), blood, spleen, liver). Results are shown as box plots depicting median, quartiles, and range, as determined by two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001; n = 6–8 mice per group (Control group n = 6; Meropenem group n = 8; Phages group n = 7; Combination group n = 7). Color coding for groups: Control group: white, Meropenem group: green, Phages group: blue; Combination group: orange. Dotted line reflects detection limit. CFU colony-forming unit, HVt high tidal volume, hpi hours post infection, PFU plaque-forming unit, VAP ventilator-associated pneumonia. P-values were adjusted for multiple testing, exact p-values in order of appearance: b 16 hpi: Control vs Phages: p = 0.029, Control vs Combination: p = 0.0016, Meropenem vs Phages: p = 0.0163, Meropenem vs Combination: p = 0.009; 24 hpi: Control vs Meropenem: p = 0.0048, Control vs Phages: p < 0.0001, Control vs Combination: p < 0.0001, Meropenem vs Combination: p = 0.0077, c 16 hpi: Control vs Phages: p = 0.0011, Control vs Combination: p = 0.0057, f BAL: Control vs Meropenem: p < 0.0001, Control vs Phages: p < 0.0001, Control vs Combination: p < 0.0001, Meropenem vs Phages: p = 0.0003, Phages vs Combination: p = 0.0043, Lung: Control vs Meropenem: p < 0.0001, Control vs Phages: p = 0.0012, Control vs Combination: p < 0.0001, Phages vs Combination: p = 0.002, g Liver: Control vs Meropenem: p < 0.000, Control vs Phages: p = 0.001, Control vs Combination: p < 0.000, Phages vs Combination: p = 0.0121. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

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