Kaji Chiharu, Watanabe Kiwao, Apicella Michael A, Watanabe Hiroshi
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
Tohoku J Exp Med. 2008 Feb;214(2):121-8. doi: 10.1620/tjem.214.121.
Biofilms can be defined as communities of microorganisms attached to a surface. Those bacterial biofilms cause serious problems, such as antibiotic resistance and medical device-related infections. Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is an important pathogen in respiratory infections, as it forms biofilms both in vitro and in vivo such as human middle ear. Recent reports indicate that otitis media, paranasal sinusitis and lower respiratory tract infections caused by Haemophilus influenzae have become more difficult to treat with oral antibiotic therapy. However, there has been no attention given to antibiotic eradication of NTHi biofilm. To investigate the antimicrobial effect of various antibiotics against NTHi biofilm formation, we conducted the following comparative study using both beta-lactamase-negative ampicillin (AMP)-susceptible (BLNAS) and AMP-resistant (BLNAR) NTHi strains. In a microtiter biofilm assay, both levofloxacin and gatifloxacin, of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic group, significantly inhibited biofilm formation by BLNAS and BLNAR NTHi in a dose-dependent fashion compared to ampicillin of the penicillin antibiotic group, cefotaxime of the cephalosporin antibiotic group, and both erythromycin and clarithromycin of the macrolide antibiotic group. Furthermore, in flow cell chamber studies, confocal laser scanning microscopy counted survival bacteria in mature biofilm had been treated with gatifloxacin, ampicillin, cefotaxime and erythromycin. Only gatifloxacin completely killed the BLNAR NTHi isolates within biofilms without regard to the thickness of biofilm formation. The results of this study suggest that fluoroquinolones potentially have a role in therapy against diseases caused by both BLNAS and BLNAR NTHi isolates within biofilms.
生物被膜可定义为附着于表面的微生物群落。这些细菌生物被膜会引发严重问题,如抗生素耐药性和与医疗器械相关的感染。不可分型流感嗜血杆菌(NTHi)是呼吸道感染中的一种重要病原体,因为它能在体外和体内形成生物被膜,比如在人类中耳中。最近的报告表明,由流感嗜血杆菌引起的中耳炎、鼻窦炎和下呼吸道感染,采用口服抗生素治疗变得更加困难。然而,对于NTHi生物被膜的抗生素根除问题尚未受到关注。为了研究各种抗生素对NTHi生物被膜形成的抗菌作用,我们使用β-内酰胺酶阴性氨苄西林(AMP)敏感(BLNAS)和AMP耐药(BLNAR)的NTHi菌株进行了以下比较研究。在微量滴定板生物被膜测定中,与青霉素类抗生素组的氨苄西林、头孢菌素类抗生素组的头孢噻肟以及大环内酯类抗生素组的红霉素和克拉霉素相比,氟喹诺酮类抗生素组的左氧氟沙星和加替沙星均以剂量依赖方式显著抑制了BLNAS和BLNAR NTHi的生物被膜形成。此外,在流动细胞室研究中,共聚焦激光扫描显微镜对用加替沙星、氨苄西林、头孢噻肟和红霉素处理过的成熟生物被膜中的存活细菌进行了计数。只有加替沙星能完全杀灭生物被膜内的BLNAR NTHi分离株,而不考虑生物被膜形成的厚度。本研究结果表明,氟喹诺酮类药物在治疗由生物被膜内的BLNAS和BLNAR NTHi分离株引起的疾病方面可能具有一定作用。