2023/06/27
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group led by Associate Professor Nobuhiro Nakamoto and Professor Takanori Kanai of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Keio University School of Medicine, analyzed the gut bacteria of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an intractable autoimmune disease with few effective treatments other than liver transplantation, and confirmed that *Klebsiella* and *Enterococcus* bacteria were detected at high rates. Furthermore, in a joint research project with the Israeli company BiomX, they successfully created a bacteriophage cocktail that specifically eliminates *Klebsiella* bacteria isolated from patients. It was shown that when this bacteriophage cocktail was administered to mice, it suppressed the intestinal colonization of *Klebsiella* and attenuated the bile duct damage induced by the bacteria. These findings clarify the previously unknown mechanism by which gut bacteria cause disease in PSC and are expected to lead to future clinical applications of phage therapy targeting *Klebsiella*.
The results of this research were published in the online edition of the international academic journal Nature Communications on June 5, 2023 (UK time).
Please see below for the full press release.