Methods Used for the Eradication of Staphylococcal Biofilms

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is considered one of the leading pathogens responsible for community and healthcare-associated infections. Among them, infections caused by methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA) are connected with ineffective or prolonged treatment. The therapy of staphylococcal infections faces many difficulties, not only because of the bacteria’s resistance to antibiotics and the multiplicity of virulence factors it produces, but also due to its ability to form a biofilm. The present review focuses on several approaches used for the assessment of staphylococcal biofilm eradication. The methods described here are successfully applied in research on the prevention of biofilm-associated infections, as well as in their management. They include not only the evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of novel compounds, but also the methods for biomaterial functionalization. Moreover, the advantages and limitations of different dyes and techniques used for biofilm characterization are discussed. Therefore, this review may be helpful for those scientists who work on the development of new antistaphylococcal compounds.

Strategies to Prevent Biofilm Infections on Biomaterials: Effect of Novel Naturally-Derived Biofilm Inhibitors on a Competitive Colonization Model of Titanium by Staphylococcus aureus and SaOS-2 Cells

“…Thus far, there is a limited repertoire of compounds that are able to act on biofilms at sufficiently low concentrations, especially in the case of S. aureus [13]. In order to tackle this problem, several strategies have been proposed, which include, among others, (i) the screening of compounds libraries to identify new small molecules able to inhibit or disassemble biofilms [14], (ii) medicinal chemistry-driven approaches directed towards synthetic modifications of known antibiotics to increase their effectivity on biofilms [15], and (iii) development of novel nano-formulations to improve antibiotic penetration on biofilms [16].…”

Effect of Ethanol Extracts of Propolis (EEPs) against Staphylococcal Biofilm—Microscopic Studies

“…Different research groups use different methods, which makes it very difficult to compare results. A review of the advantages and disadvantages of the currently proposed methods of biofilm eradication has recently been presented by Jaśkiewicz et al [ 36 ]. The results of our previous study, which was performed with a “classical” in vitro assay in 96-well titration plates, suggested that there is no big difference in EEP activity against both planktonic cells and S. aureus biofilm, which would be an important advantage of using propolis over antibiotics.…”

Physicochemical properties and formulation development of a novel compound inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation

“…Biofilm is a virulence mechanism that allows bacteria to colonize tissues and provide a physical barrier to shield the bacteria from the body’s disease fighting white blood cells and antibodies. Biofilm consists of complex structures of bacteria enveloped in extracellular polymeric matrix with polysaccharides and water, together with excreted cellular products such as extracellular DNA (eDNA), which stabilizes biofilm structures and contributes to antimicrobial resistance [ 18 – 23 ]. Biofilm formation also contributes to antibiotic resistance by providing a physical barrier to antibiotics [ 24 , 25 ].…”

“…Biofilm formation also contributes to antibiotic resistance by providing a physical barrier to antibiotics [ 24 , 25 ]. Infections caused by biofilm-associated pathogens are difficult to eradicate because the biofilm structure, extracellular matrix, and inter-bacterial signaling of microbial biofilm communities prevent antibiotic penetration, limit nutrition, promote bacterial persistence and contribute to the antibiotic resistance of biofilm bacteria [ 18 , 22 , 23 , 26 – 29 ]. Therefore, the production of biofilm-associated virulence factors makes bacteria harder to treat and can transform infections from acute to chronic stage and lead to serious complications [ 27 , 30 ].…”