A test for the 'physiological phagemia' hypothesis-natural intestinal coliphages do not penetrate to the blood in horses

摘要

Soon after the discovery of bacteriophages in 1917, Felix d'Hérelle demonstrated that they are present in human- and animal-associated microbiota, and speculated that these phages may play certain roles in the immunity against bacterial infections (d'Hérelle 1926). That remains an intriguing but not yet proven possibility up to this day (reviewed in Górski and Weber-Dabrowska 2005). It has been often reported that phages administrated orally or rectally in the course of phage therapy can penetrate through mucosa of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) to the blood (see Letarov et al. 2010; Górski et al. 2006 for review) and it was suggested that natural intestinal bacteriophages might also translocate continuously from GIT to the blood. This state has been termed a “physiological phagemia” (Górski et al. 2006).