Activity of disinfectants against multispecies biofilms formed by Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

Microbial biofilms are a serious threat to human health. Recent studies have indicated that many clinically relevant biofilms are polymicrobial. In the present study, multispecies biofilms were grown in a reproducible manner in a 96-well microtiter plate. The efficacy of nine commercially available disinfectants against Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in multispecies biofilms was determined and compared. The results showed that the direction and the magnitude of the effect in a multispecies biofilm depend on the strain and the disinfectant used and challenge the common belief that organisms in multispecies biofilms are always less susceptible than in monospecies biofilms.

Keywords:

• disinfectants
• multispecies biofilm
• S. aureus
• P. aeruginosa
• C. albicans

Acknowledgments

This research has been funded by the Interuniversity Attraction Poles Programme initiated by the Belgian Science Policy Office and by FWO-Vlaanderen. Didem Kart was supported by funding from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).