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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2009, p. 35-40, Vol. 53, No. 1
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00237-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Electrical Current on the Activities of Antimicrobial Agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms{triangledown}

Jose L. del Pozo,1,2 Mark S. Rouse,1,2 Jayawant N. Mandrekar,3 Marta Fernandez Sampedro,1,2 James M. Steckelberg,1,2 and Robin Patel1,2,4*

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine,1 Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory,2 Division of Biostatistics,3 Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota4

Received 20 February 2008/ Returned for modification 20 June 2008/ Accepted 18 August 2008

Bacterial biofilms are resistant to conventional antimicrobial agents. Prior in vitro studies have shown that electrical current (EC) enhances the activities of aminoglycosides, quinolones, and oxytetracycline against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus gordonii. This phenomenon, known as the bioelectric effect, has been only partially defined. The purpose of this work was to study the in vitro bioelectric effect on the activities of 11 antimicrobial agents representing a variety of different classes against P. aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and S. epidermidis. An eight-channel current generator/controller and eight chambers delivering a continuous flow of fresh medium with or without antimicrobial agents and/or EC to biofilm-coated coupons were used. No significant decreases in the numbers of log10 CFU/cm2 were seen after exposure to antimicrobial agents alone, with the exception of a 4.57-log-unit reduction for S. epidermidis and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. We detected a statistically significant bioelectric effect when vancomycin plus 2,000 microamperes EC were used against MRSA biofilms (P = 0.04) and when daptomycin and erythromycin were used in combination with 200 or 2,000 microamperes EC against S. epidermidis biofilms (P = 0.02 and 0.0004, respectively). The results of these experiments indicate that the enhancement of the activity of antimicrobial agents against biofilm organisms by EC is not a generalizable phenomenon across microorganisms and antimicrobial agents.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Divisions of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905. Phone: (507) 538-0579. Fax: (507) 284-4272. E-mail: patel.robin{at}mayo.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 25 August 2008.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2009, p. 35-40, Vol. 53, No. 1
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00237-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • del Pozo, J. L., Rouse, M. S., Mandrekar, J. N., Steckelberg, J. M., Patel, R. (2009). The Electricidal Effect: Reduction of Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas Biofilms by Prolonged Exposure to Low-Intensity Electrical Current. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 41-45 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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