Biofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy

Description

Rather than existing in a planktonic or free-living form, evidence indicates that microbes show a preference for living in a sessile form within complex communities called biofilms. Biofilms appear to afford microbes a survival advantage by optimizing nutrition, offering protection against hostile elements, and providing a network for cell-to-cell signaling and genetic exchange.

Biofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy provides an in-depth exploration of biofilms, offering broad background information, as well a detailed look at the serious concerns to which biofilm-associated infections give rise.

Prosthetic device infections, such as those involving artificial heart valves, intravascular catheters, or prosthetic joints, are prime examples of biofilm-associated infections. With the increasing use of such devices in the modern practice of medicine, the prevalence of these infections is expected to increase. Unfortunately, one of the most troubling characteristics of microbes found in biofilms is a profound resistance to antimicrobial agents.

As biofilm-associated infections are particularly difficult to treat, they result in significant mortality, morbidity, and increased economic burden. Clearly, a better understanding of the pathogenesis of these infections and improved means for prevention and treatment are urgently needed!

InBiofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy, Drs Pace, Rupp, and Finch assemble the contributions of more than 50 of the world’s leading authorities on microbial biofilms who present recent findings on antibacterial tolerance and bacterial persistence associated with biofilms and discuses the implications of those findings with regard to human health. They explore the molecular mechanisms of bacterial adherence, biofilm formation, regulation of biofilm maintenance, and cell-to-cell communication and present the latest information on various treatment protocols that should aid physicians in the treatment of these refractory and often difficult-to-treat infections.

Reviews

“… provides a comprehensive overview of the role of biofilms as they relate to infections and their impact on antimicrobial therapy. The stated goal of the editors is to develop a general understanding among a broad audience, of the problem posed by biofilms. … This volume will be potentially useful for clinicians who are dealing with infections associated with biofilms, and for investigators who are interested in this subject. Each of the chapters is self-contained to a designated topic, thereby allowing for their reading independent of the rest of the book. … However, by reading the book from the beginning to end, on e can get a good sense of the current level of understanding of and research in the role of biofilms in clinical infectious diseases. … In summary, this book is recommended for graduate students and infectious diseases trainees, as well as for established scientists and clinician investigators who are interested in the subject of biofilm-related infections. It will also serve as a useful reference book for infectious diseases divisional libraries, where individual chapters could clearly serve as useful introduction to and reviews of this topic.”
—Michael Green, Department of Pediatric and Surgery, University of Pittsburg School of Medicine, Division of Infections Diseases, Pennsylvania, in Clinical Infectious Diseases, December 2006

“The content is a credit to a series of contributors, many of whom are leading names in their perspective fields, each of whom has put together a well written and informative chapter. I would consider this book to be useful to individuals or institutions alike carrying out research in this area as well as those involved directly with biofilm infections in the clinical setting.”
—Jonathan Pratten, Microbiology Today, 2006

Table of Contents

SECTION I Biofilms: Background, Significance, and Roles of Catheters and Indwelling Devices

• Microbial Biofilms; Xiuping Jiang and John L. Pace
• Economic Impact of Biofilms on Treatment Costs; John G. Thomas, Isaiah Litton, and Harald Rinde
• Biofilm-Related Indwelling Medical Device Infections; Matthew K. Schinabeck and Mahmoud A. Ghannoum
• Medical Device Composition and Biological Secretion Influences on Biofilm Formation; Sean P. Gorman and David S. Jones

SECTION II Biofilm-Forming Pathogens

• Role of Biofilms in Infections Caused by Escherichia coli; Grégory Jubelin, Corinne Dorel, and Philippe Lejeune
• Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms; Julie M. Higashi and Paul M. Sullam
• Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci; Dietrich Mack, Matthias A. Horstkotte, Holger Rohde, and Johannes K.-M. Knobloch
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Infections in Cystic Fibrosis; Andrea Smiley and Daniel J. Hassett Candida; Stephen Hawser and Khalid Islam

SECTION III Emerging Issues, Assays, and Models

• Current Perspectives on the Regulation of the ica Operon and Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus epidermidis; Paul D. Fey and Luke D. Handke
• Cell-to-Cell Communication in Bacteria; Kenneth D. Tucker and Luciano Passador
• Persisters: Specialized Cells Responsible for Biofilm Tolerance to Antimicrobial Agents; Kim Lewis, Amy L. Spoering, Niilo Kaldalu, Iris Keren, and Devang Shah
• Minimal Biofilm Eradication Concentration (MBEC) Assay: Susceptibility Testing for Biofilms; Howard Ceri, Merle E. Olson, Douglas W. Morck, and Douglas G. Storey
• Environmental Cues Regulate Virulence and Biofilm Formation; John L. Pace and Steven M. Frey
• In Vivo Models for the Study of Biomaterial-Associated Infection by Biofilm-Forming Staphylococci; Luke D. Handke and Mark E. Rupp
• Host Response to Biofilms; Susan Meier-Davis

SECTION IV Overview of Antiinfective Agents and Clinical Therapy

• Pharmacodynamics and the Treatment of IMD-Related Infections; Roger Finch and Sarah Gander
• Protein Synthesis Inhibitors, Fluoroquinolones, and Rifampin for Biofilm Infections; Steven L. Barriere
• Lactams for the Treatment of Biofilm-Associated Infections; Ingrid L. Dodge, Karen Joy Shaw, and Karen Bush
• Glycopeptide Antibacterials and the Treatment of Biofilm-Related Infections; John L. Pace, Roasaire Verna, and Jan Verhoef
• Antibiotic Resistance in Biofilms; Nafsika H. Georgopapadakou
• Treatment Protocols for Infections of Vascular Catheters; Russell E. Lewis and Issam I. Raad
• Treatment Protocols for Bacterial Endocarditis and Infection of Electrophysiologic Cardiac Devices; Martin E. Stryjewski and G. Ralph Corey
• Treatment Protocol of Infections of Orthopedic Devices; Vera Antonios, Elie Berbari, and Douglas Osmon
• Index