Bovine mastitis is a considerable challenge within the dairy industry, causing significant financial losses and threatening public health. The increased occurrence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has provoked difficulties in managing bovine mastitis. Bacteriophage therapy presents a novel treatment strategy to combat MRSA infections, emerging as a possible substitute for antibiotics. This study evaluated the therapeutic potency of a novel bacteriophage cocktail against MRSA mastitis. Two new bacteriophages (vB_SauR_SW21 and vB_SauR_SW25) with potent lytic activity against MRSA were isolated and characterized. The one-step growth curve displayed a rapid latent period (20-35 min) and substantial burst size (418 and 316 PFU/ cell). In silico analyses have confirmed the absence of antimicrobial resistance or virulence factor-encoding genes within their genomes. According to the results, combining these phages augmented their host range and virulence. The phage cocktail significantly reduced bacterial burden in a BALB/c mastitis model, demonstrating efficacy comparable to antibiotic treatment. Moreover, its administration led to decreased concentrations of IL-1β and TNF-α compared to the negative control group. The bacteriophage cocktail (SW21-SW25) exhibits a promising profile for therapeutic applications and may represent a novel substitute to antibiotics for managing MRSA bovine mastitis.
Copyright: © 2025 Banar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.