Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics?
Biofilms are multicellular aggregates of bacteria immersed in an extracellular matrix that forms on various surfaces, including biological tissues and artificial surfaces. However, more and more reports point out the fact that even biological fluids and semifluid, such as synovial liquid, blood, uri...
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Microorganisms |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/2/259 |
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| author | Lorenzo Drago Andrea Fidanza Alessio Giannetti Alessio Ciuffoletti Giandomenico Logroscino Carlo Luca Romanò |
| author_facet | Lorenzo Drago Andrea Fidanza Alessio Giannetti Alessio Ciuffoletti Giandomenico Logroscino Carlo Luca Romanò |
| author_sort | Lorenzo Drago |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biofilms are multicellular aggregates of bacteria immersed in an extracellular matrix that forms on various surfaces, including biological tissues and artificial surfaces. However, more and more reports point out the fact that even biological fluids and semifluid, such as synovial liquid, blood, urine, or mucus and feces, harbor “non-attached” biofilm aggregates of bacteria, which represent a significant phenomenon with critical clinical implications that remain to be fully investigated. In particular, biofilm aggregates in biological fluid samples have been shown to play a relevant role in bacterial count and in the overall accuracy of microbiological diagnosis. In line with these observations, the introduction in the clinical setting of fluid sample pretreatment with an antibiofilm chemical compound called dithiothreitol (DTT), which is able to dislodge microorganisms from their intercellular matrix without killing them, would effectively improve the microbiological yield and increase the sensitivity of cultural examination, compared to the current microbiological techniques. While other ongoing research continues to unveil the complexity of biofilm formation in biological fluids and its impact on infection pathogenesis and diagnosis, we here hypothesize that the routine use of a chemical antibiofilm pretreatment of fluid and semi-solid samples may lead to a paradigm shift in the microbiological approach to the diagnosis of biofilm-related infections and should be further investigated and eventually implemented in the clinical setting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e4c73f4ec6246b4943fa66a8a09d8af |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Microorganisms |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e4c73f4ec6246b4943fa66a8a09d8af2025-01-15T11:30:17ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-01-0112225910.3390/microorganisms12020259Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics?Lorenzo Drago0Andrea Fidanza1Alessio Giannetti2Alessio Ciuffoletti3Giandomenico Logroscino4Carlo Luca Romanò5Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, ItalyMininvasive Orthopaedic Surgery—Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyUnit of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, “G. Mazzini” Hospital, 64100 Teramo, ItalyUnit of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, “G. Mazzini” Hospital, 64100 Teramo, ItalyMininvasive Orthopaedic Surgery—Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, ItalyRomano Institute, Rruga Deshmoret e 4 Shkurtit, 1001 Tirana, AlbaniaBiofilms are multicellular aggregates of bacteria immersed in an extracellular matrix that forms on various surfaces, including biological tissues and artificial surfaces. However, more and more reports point out the fact that even biological fluids and semifluid, such as synovial liquid, blood, urine, or mucus and feces, harbor “non-attached” biofilm aggregates of bacteria, which represent a significant phenomenon with critical clinical implications that remain to be fully investigated. In particular, biofilm aggregates in biological fluid samples have been shown to play a relevant role in bacterial count and in the overall accuracy of microbiological diagnosis. In line with these observations, the introduction in the clinical setting of fluid sample pretreatment with an antibiofilm chemical compound called dithiothreitol (DTT), which is able to dislodge microorganisms from their intercellular matrix without killing them, would effectively improve the microbiological yield and increase the sensitivity of cultural examination, compared to the current microbiological techniques. While other ongoing research continues to unveil the complexity of biofilm formation in biological fluids and its impact on infection pathogenesis and diagnosis, we here hypothesize that the routine use of a chemical antibiofilm pretreatment of fluid and semi-solid samples may lead to a paradigm shift in the microbiological approach to the diagnosis of biofilm-related infections and should be further investigated and eventually implemented in the clinical setting.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/2/259biofilmfluidsdithiothreitol (DTT)microbiological culture examinationdiagnosis |
| spellingShingle | Lorenzo Drago Andrea Fidanza Alessio Giannetti Alessio Ciuffoletti Giandomenico Logroscino Carlo Luca Romanò Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? Microorganisms biofilm fluids dithiothreitol (DTT) microbiological culture examination diagnosis |
| title | Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? |
| title_full | Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? |
| title_fullStr | Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? |
| title_short | Bacteria Living in Biofilms in Fluids: Could Chemical Antibiofilm Pretreatment of Culture Represent a Paradigm Shift in Diagnostics? |
| title_sort | bacteria living in biofilms in fluids could chemical antibiofilm pretreatment of culture represent a paradigm shift in diagnostics |
| topic | biofilm fluids dithiothreitol (DTT) microbiological culture examination diagnosis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/2/259 |
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