Biofilms in chronic infections – a matter of opportunity – monospecies biofilms in multispecies infections

Biofilms and chronic infections.

Biofilms in endodontic infections

Biofilm biology has become an expanding field of research in human, industrial and environmental ecosystems. The knowledge accumulated suggests that organisms growing in biofilms develop properties different to those dwelling in the planktonic state. On surveying the endodontic literature it is obvious that this realization and the fact that biofilms afford the resident microorganisms protectio...

Biofilms: a Diagnostic Challenge in Persistent Infections

Biofilm infections; by definition, are the communities of microorganisms which are attached to a surface and are not readily sampled by common diagnostic techniques. Biofilms are innately more resistant than their individual planktonic counterparts and microorganisms frequently exhibit increased antimicrobial resistance. Our expanding knowledge of biofilm-related infections has broadened our vi...

The role of bacterial biofilms in chronic infections.

Acute infections caused by pathogenic bacteria have been studied extensively for well over 100 years. These infections killed millions of people in previous centuries, but they have been combated effectively by the development of modern vaccines, antibiotics and infection control measures. Most research into bacterial pathogenesis has focused on acute infections, but these diseases have now bee...

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae biofilms: role in chronic airway infections

Like many pathogens inhabiting mucosal surfaces, nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) forms multicellular biofilm communities both in vitro and in various infection models. In the past 15 years much has been learned about determinants of biofilm formation by this organism and potential roles in bacterial virulence, especially in the context of chronic and recurrent infections. However, thi...