Lactobacillus acidophilus Derived Biosurfactant as a Biofilm Inhibitor: A Promising Investigation Using Microfluidic Approach

Abstract

Background: Biomedical devices and implants are adversely affected by biofilm-associated infections that pose serious public health issues. Biosurfactants (BSs) can combat pathogenic biofilms through their antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antiadhesive capabilities. The objective of our research was to produce biosurfactant (BS) from Lactobacillus acidophilus NCIM 2903 and investigate its antibiofilm, antiadhesive potential using microfluidics strategies by mimicking the micro-environment of biofilm. Methods: Antibiofilm and antiadhesive potential was effectively evaluated using different methods like microfluidics assay, catheter assay, polydimethlysiloxane (PDMS) disc assay. Along with this chemical and physical characteristics of BS were also evaluated. Results: Cell free biosurfactant (CFBS) obtained was found to be effective against biofilm which was validated through the microfluidic (MF) or Lab on Chip (LOC) approach. The potency of CFBS was also evaluated on catheter tubing and PDMS surfaces (representative bioimplants). The efficacy of CFBS was also demonstrated through the reduction in surface tension, interfacial tension, contact angle and low critical micelle concentration. Conclusion: CFBS was found to be a potent antimicrobial and antibiofilm agent. We believe that perhaps this is the first report on demonstrating the inhibiting effect of Lactobacillus spp. derived CFBS against selected bacteria via LOC approach. These findings can be explored to design various BSs based formulations exhibiting antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antiadhesive potential for biomedical applications.

Production of biosurfactant by lactic acid bacteria using whey as growth medium

“…In general, previous reports detected that biosurfactants of L. rhamnosus exhibited lower antiadhesive properties than L. acidophilus in accordance with our results. According to the literature, the lowest inhibitory activity was exhibited against E. coli, similar to the present study's results [7,10,20,34,38]. For instance, Gudina et al [32] stated that the biosurfactant from L. agilis showed significant antiadhesive effect against S. aureus, S. agalactiae, and P. aeruginosa.…”

“…Our results were also in accordance with this [4]. Emulsification activity could also change according to the hydrocarbon used in related analyses [34]. In our study, emulsification index values were obtained from xylene, but in future studies different hydrocarbon substrates should be tested for establishment of better correlations.…”

Special Issue on Nano-Systems for Antimicrobial Therapy

“…It is known that strongly hydrophilic surfaces may render the adhesion of proteins and bacteria extremely difficult by forming a hydration layer [18]; in addition, super-hydrophobicity of surfaces was widely described as a tool which can be exploited for the same task. In this perspective, the idea to exploit biosynthesized surfactants can be considered a promising approach to coat biomedical implants in order to inhibit biofilm formation, and one important contribution to this field is reported in this Special Issue [19].…”

Improved biosurfactant production from Aspergillus niger through chemical mutagenesis: characterization and RSM optimization

“…glycolipids, lipopeptides, phospholipids, lipoproteins and lipid-polysaccharide complexes [2]. They present various applications as emulsifiers, conditioners, cosmetics and food industries [3,4].…”

“…Biosurfactants have been reported to possess excellent biomedical and therapeutic properties [5][6][7][8] and also found to be effective to tackle environmental pollution through bioremediation [4,9]. They are important in food digestion and respiratory action, plant pathogenicity, paints, beverages, cosmetics and cement industries.…”