Effect of Biofilms on the Adhesion of to Urinary Tract Devices.

Novel technologies to prevent biofilm formation on urinary tract devices (UTDs) are continually being developed, with the ultimate purpose of reducing the incidence of urinary infections. Probiotics have been described as having the ability to displace adhering uropathogens and inhibit microbial adhesion to UTD materials. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of pre-established biofilms on the adhesion of to medical-grade silicone. The optimal growth conditions of lactobacilli biofilms on silicone were first assessed in 12-well plates. Then, biofilms of were placed in contact with suspensions for up to 24 h under quasi-static conditions. Biofilm monitoring was performed by determining the number of culturable cells and by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results showed significant reductions of 76%, 77% and 99% in culturability after exposure to biofilms for 3, 6 and 12 h, respectively, corroborating the CLSM analysis. The interactions between microbial cell surfaces and the silicone surface with and without biofilms were also characterized using contact angle measurements, where was shown to be thermodynamically less prone to adhere to biofilms than to silicone. Thus, this study suggests the use of probiotic cells as potential antibiofilm agents for urinary tract applications.