A normalized parameter for comparison of biofilm dispersants in vitro

Shuang Tian, Linqi Shi*, Yijin Ren, Henny C. van der Mei*, Henk J. Busscher*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Dispersal of infectious biofilms increases bacterial concentrations in blood. To prevent sepsis, the strength of a dispersant should be limited to allow the immune system to remove dispersed bacteria from blood, preferably without antibiotic administration. Biofilm bacteria are held together by extracellular polymeric substances that can be degraded by dispersants. Currently, comparison of the strength of dispersants is not possible by lack of a suitable comparison parameter. Here, a biofilm dispersal parameter is proposed that accounts for differences in initial biofilm properties, dispersant concentration and exposure time by using PBS as a control and normalizing outcomes with respect to concentration and time. The parameter yielded near-identical values based on dispersant-induced reductions in biomass or biofilm colony-forming-units and appeared strain-dependent across pathogens. The parameter as proposed is largely independent of experimental methods and conditions and suitable for comparing different dispersants with respect to different causative strains in particular types of infection.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100188
Number of pages6
JournalBiofilm
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun-2024

Keywords

  • Dispersed bacteria
  • eDNA
  • Extracellular polymeric substances
  • Micelles
  • Sepsis

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