Proteome analysis of biofilms: growth of Bacillus subtilis on solid medium as model

The application of biofilm science to the study and control of chronic bacterial infections

Unequivocal direct observations have established that the bacteria that cause device-related and other chronic infections grow in matrix-enclosed biofilms. The diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that have served us so well in the partial eradication of acute epidemic bacterial diseases have not yielded accurate data or favorable outcomes when applied to these biofilm diseases. We discuss the potential benefits of the application of the new methods and concepts developed by biofilm science and engineering to the clinical management of infectious diseases.

The application of biofilm science to the study and control of chronic bacterial infections

Unequivocal direct observations have established that the bacteria that cause device-related and other chronic infections grow in matrix-enclosed biofilms. The diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that have served us so well in the partial eradication of acute epidemic bacterial diseases have not yielded accurate data or favorable outcomes when applied to these biofilm diseases. We discuss the potential benefits of the application of the new methods and concepts developed by biofilm science and engineering to the clinical management of infectious diseases.

Antibiofilm approaches: prevention of catheter colonization

Bacteria frequently attach to medical devices such as intravascular catheters by forming sessile multicellular communities known as biofilms, which can be the source of persistent infections that are recalcitrant to systemic antibiotic therapy. As a result of this persistence, a number of technologies have been developed to prevent catheter-associated biofilm formation. Whereas the most straightforward approaches focus on impregnating catheter material with classical antimicrobial agents, these approaches are not universally effective, thereby underscoring the need for more potent and more sophisticated approaches to the prevention of catheter-related biofilm infections.