Juan Bueno
Anadolu University, Turkey
Title: Anti-biofilm drug discovery new topics in antimicrobial adjuvants for antibiotic improvement
Biography
Biography: Juan Bueno
Abstract
Biofilm is considered as a microbial structure, composed of cells incrusted in a polymeric matrix which is attached in an inert or living surface. Biofilm matrix is an impermeable barrier that increases the resistance to biocides and drugs, because attached cells embedded in biofilm are 1000-fold more resistant to antimicrobials than planktonic free-floating cells. In this way it is believed that this mechanism of resistance is responsible for around 100,000 nosocomial lethal infections per year in the United States. In fact, the antibiotic treatment has been evaluated using planktonically-grown bacteria and not polymicrobial biofilms and their associations; complicating the administration of an effective therapy and cure. Because the biofilm pattern contributes to increasing microbial resistance, it is an imperative necessity to develop new drugs and biocides with the ability to destroy the cells cells within the biofilm structure. An important approach is the standardization of in vitro screening assays to evaluate activity, drug susceptibility testing as well as antimicrobial combinations with clinical correlation. For implementing this drug discovery platform, it is necessary to control several variables including, microbial species to be employed, biofilm growth conditions, and the best method for quantification of the microorganisms is included in the biofilms, with the end to obtain new compounds for attack chronic infections. The aim of this lecture is to give a rational approach for to implement antibiofilm drug discovery screening platforms, looking for new adjuvants to improve the current antimicrobial therapy.