The role of microbial biofilms in chronic and acute wounds (original) (raw)

Bacterial biofilm and associated infections

Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA, 2017

Microscopic entities, microorganisms that drastically affect human health need to be thoroughly investigated. A biofilm is an architectural colony of microorganisms, within a matrix of extracellular polymeric substance that they produce. Biofilm contains microbial cells adherent to one-another and to a static surface (living or non-living). Bacterial biofilms are usually pathogenic in nature and can cause nosocomial infections. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that among all microbial and chronic infections, 65% and 80%, respectively, are associated with biofilm formation. The process of biofilm formation consists of many steps, starting with attachment to a living or non-living surface that will lead to formation of micro-colony, giving rise to three-dimensional structures and ending up, after maturation, with detachment. During formation of biofilm several species of bacteria communicate with one another, employing quorum sensing. In general, bacterial biofilms sho...

Biofilm delays wound healing: A review of the evidence

Burns & Trauma, 2013

Bacteria are ubiquitous in nature, and while the majority are harmless and important in life and for human health, some are capable of causing disease. Whether they develop within natural or pathogenic ecosystems, bacteria have a preference for existence as a surface-attached community, rather than as a planktonic (free-floating) mode of life. It has been suggested that bacteria evolved as surface-attached organisms, and that a planktonic phenotype subsequently evolved as a dispersal and seeding mechanism. [1] The observation of bacterial aggregation and attachment

Editorial The EPS Matrix as an Adaptive Bastion for Biofilms: Introduction to Special Issue

2015

The process of biofilm formation has knowingly, and even unsuspectingly, baffled scientists for almost as long as the field of microbiology itself has existed. This Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) specifically addresses an important component of the biofilm, the extracellular matrix. This matrix forms the protective secretions that surround biofilm cells and afford a "built environment" to contain biofilm processes. During the earlier days of microbiology, it was intriguing to Claude ZoBell that attached bacteria sometimes were able to proliferate when their planktonic counterparts were unable to grow [1]. During the 1970s, this attached state was beginning to be explored [2], and it was realized to be anchored in a matrix of slime-like molecules. The slime-like matrix together with cells was to be called the "biofilm", a term developed by the late Bill Costerton, Bill Characklis and colleagues. The scientific revelation that attached bacteria were different from free (i.e., planktonic) cells in their physiological behavior and adaptability, launched an era of focused exploration in this area of microbiology. It was initially surprising, though not unexpected in retrospect, that interest in biofilms has grown and now infiltrates virtually all aspects of our scientific study. Since that time there has been a near-exponential growth in the numbers of scientific publications addressing biofilms owing to their immediate relevance to ecology, biotechnology, health and industry. During this exciting time, it was shown that the same strains of bacteria, when grown as free-cells (i.e., plankton) vs. attached cells (i.e., biofilm), exhibited differences in gene expression, cell-cell chemical communication, microspatial distributions, enzyme activities, antibiotic production, physical resistance to dispersion under flow, and other interactions between cells within biofilms [3,4]. However, one conspicuous gap emerged in understanding the biofilm. While there was much focus on biofilm cells, there was a relative paucity of studies addressing the extracellular matrix just outside the microbial cell boundaries, even though the extracellular matrix was recognized to be an integral part of

1 Introduction to Biofilms : Definition and Basic Concepts

2015

The idea behind the development of this definition was to provide a terminology usable, without any confusion, in the various domains dealing with biorelated polymers, namely, medicine, surgery, pharmacology, agriculture, packaging, biotechnology and polymer waste management (Vert et al., 2012). Bearing this definition in mind, in this book we use the term ‘biofilm’ to refer to ‘microorganisms attached to and growing, or capable of growing, on a surface’. This definition is broader than the IUPAC definition, as it includes cells or spores that are attached to a surface but have yet to produce a biofilm matrix. We have included attached cells not within a matrix in order to acknowledge that in many instances the act of attaching induces phenotypic changes to a cell. We have included the phrase ‘growing or capable of growing’ to reinforce the point that many of the unique features associated with biofilms arise as a result of the