Biofilm Research

 

What is a bio-film?


Biofilms are a formidable barrier to treating bacterial infections and one of the leading causes of antibiotic resistance.  A biofilm is like cling film and forms a protective layer over the bacteria, making it impossible for antibiotics to reach and kill the live bacteria. This can lead to persistent internal or external infections. 


Biofilms can be found on natural surfaces like teeth, lungs, and open wounds, as well as on medical devices and instruments. However, there is promising research indicating that specific essential oils and herbs have the potential to destroy biofilms, offering a new approach to combating these resilient structures that are challenging to eliminate with traditional pharmaceutical medicine.

 

 

Once the biofilm is destroyed the antibiotics can effectively eliminate the bacteria.


Recent research shows biofilms consist of dead bacteria and may also consist of a second organism, often candida that complicates eradication. Compared to mono-species biofilm, biofilms formed by cross-kingdom pathogens are more refractory to conventional antibiotics, thus complicating clinical treatment and causing significant morbidity. Some essential oils, such as Lemongrass, and its bioactive component citral, were previously demonstrated to possess strong antimicrobial efficacy against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. 

Candida species is one of the most prevalent fungal pathogens worldwide and prone to forming biofilms, which have been extensively identified in human body, hospital environment, and medical materials (Cavalheiro and Teixeira, 2018). Infections caused by Candida biofilms usually exhibit a high degree of tolerance to antifungal therapies and thus pose a serious threat to human health.


Although microorganisms are able to form single-species biofilm, it is more common that two or more microorganisms coexist in biofilms. Such multi-species biofilms can significantly increase the resistance of commensal microbes to conventional antimicrobic therapies and host immune system. For instance, the ability of S. aureus to make biofilms is greatly enhanced when grown with C. albicans, and moreover, the susceptibility of S. aureus cells to routine antibiotics like vancomycin and oxacillin is markedly reduced (Nabb et al., 2019).

 

It is highly evident that infections caused by multi-species biofilms can lead to diseases with higher morbidity and mortality than those caused by single-species biofilm (Kong et al., 2016). For example, infections caused by dual-species biofilms of C. albicans and S. aureus have been frequently reported, which makes the pathogens difficult to be eradicated (Qu et al., 2016). Therefore, exploration of effective agents targeting multi-species biofilms is urgently required.

 

 

 

Essential oils fractionally distilled from plants have drawn increased attention because of its multiple pharmacological properties like antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities. Offering better biocompatibility and less side effects on the human body, plant essential oils are regarded as potential alternatives to synthesis-based antibiotics and have been widely used in the treatment of cutaneous infections (Wińska et al., 2019).


The Panakea Antiseptic Cream and Breathe Easy blend contain essential oils shown to destroy multi-organism biofilms.


References

  1. Antimicrobial Activity of Lemongrass Essential Oil (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and Its Active Component Citral Against Dual-Species Biofilms of Staphylococcus aureusand CandidaSpecies.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7783362/


  1. The Evaluation of the Antibacterial Activity of Vetiveria

zizanioides (L.) Nash Grown in Giresun, Turkey

Alinteri J. of Agr. Sci. (2019) 34(1): 21-24

e-ISSN: 2587-2249