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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2002, p. 1469-1474, Vol. 46, No. 5
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.5.1469-1474.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Interactions between Biocide Cationic Agents and Bacterial Biofilms

C. Campanac,1 L. Pineau,1 A. Payard,2 G. Baziard-Mouysset,2 and C. Roques1*

Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Virologie et Microbiologie Industrielle,1 Laboratoire de Chimie Pharmaceutique, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, 31062 Toulouse cedex 04, France2

Received 20 April 2001/ Returned for modification 22 September 2001/ Accepted 26 January 2002

The resistance of bacterial biofilms to physical and chemical agents is attributed in the literature to various interconnected processes. The limitation of mass transfer alters the growth rate, and physiological changes in the bacteria in the film also appear. The present work describes an approach to determination of the mechanisms involved in the resistance of bacteria to quaternary ammonium compounds (benzalkonium chloride) according to the C-chain lengths of those compounds. For Pseudomonas aeruginosa CIP A 22, the level of resistance of the bacteria in the biofilm relative to that of planktonic bacteria increased with the C-chain length. For cells within the biofilm, the exopolysaccharide induced a characteristic increase in surface hydrophilicity. However, this hydrophilicity was eliminated by simple resuspension and washing. The sensitivity to quaternary ammonium compounds was restored to over 90%. Staphylococcus aureus CIP 53 154 had a very high level of resistance when it was in the biofilm form. A characteristic of bacteria from the biofilm was a reduction in the percent hydrophobicity, but the essential point is that this hydrophobicity was retained after the biofilm bacteria were resuspended and washed. The recovery of sensitivity was thus only partial. These results indicate that the factors involved in biofilm resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds vary according to the bacterial modifications induced by the formation of a biofilm. In the case of P. aeruginosa, we have underlined the involvement of the exopolysaccharide and particularly the three-dimensional structure (water channels). In the case of S. aureus, the role of the three-dimensional structure is limited and drastic physiological changes in the biofilm cells are more highly implicated in resistance.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Bactériologie, Virologie et Microbiologie Industrielle, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, 35 Chemin des Maraîchers, 31062 Toulouse cedex 04, France. Phone: (33) 0562256860. Fax: (33) 0561259572. E-mail: CH.ROQUES{at}wanadoo.fr.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 2002, p. 1469-1474, Vol. 46, No. 5
0066-4804/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AAC.46.5.1469-1474.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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