Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Frontline of the Greatest Challenge of Biofilm Infection—Its Tolerance to Antibiotics

Abstract

P. aeruginosa biofilms are aggregates of bacteria surrounded by a self-produced matrix which binds to some antibiotics such as aminoglycosides. P. aeruginosa biofilms are tolerant to antibiotics. The treatment of biofilm infections leads to a recurrence of symptoms after finishing antibiotic treatment, although the initial clinical response to the treatment is frequently favorable. There is a concentration gradient of oxygen and nutrients from the surface to the center of biofilms. Surface-located bacteria are multiplying and metabolizing, whereas deeper located bacteria are dormant and tolerant to most antibiotics. Colistin kills dormant bacteria, and combination therapy with colistin and antibiotics which kills multiplying bacteria is efficient in vitro. Some antibiotics such as imipenem induce additional production of the biofilm matrix and of chromosomal beta-lactamase in biofilms. Biofilms present a third Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) micro-compartment (first: blood, second: tissue, third: biofilm) which must be taken into consideration when calculations try to predict the antibiotic concentrations in biofilms and thereby the probability of target attainment (PTA) for killing the biofilm. Treating biofilms with hyperbaric oxygen to wake up the dormant cells, destruction of the biofilm matrix, and the use of bacteriophage therapy in combination with antibiotics are promising possibilities which have shown proof of concept in in vitro experiments and in animal experiments.