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Updated: Jul 11, 2026
Antibiotic Efficacy Testing in an Ex vivo Model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms in the Cystic Fibrosis Lung
Published on: January 22, 2021
Methods for removing bacterial biofilms: in vitro study using clinical chronic rhinosinusitis specimens
Martin Desrosiers1, Matthew Myntti, Garth James
1Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Background:
Bacterial biofilms may be involved in refractory chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). In vitro, we studied methods for removing biofilms formed by Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Methods:
Bacterial isolates were obtained from patients with refractory CRS and were plated and treated with either static administration of citric acid/zwitterionic surfactant (CAZS), saline delivered with hydrodynamic force, or CAZS delivered hydrodynamically. Results were assessed by counting colony-forming units (CFUs) and by confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM).
Results:
All treatments produced significant reductions in CFU counts (p >or= 0.002). Hydrodynamic CAZS provided the greatest reduction, decreasing CFU counts from control values by 3.9 +/- 0.3 logs and 5.2 +/- 0.5 logs for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, respectively (99.9% reduction; p = 0.001). CSLM showed decreases in biofilm coverage.
Conclusion:
Hydrodynamic delivery of a soap-like surfactant and a calcium-ion sequestering agent may disrupt biofilms associated with CRS. Our results may be relevant to a new approach to refractory CRS.
