Version 1: Bacteriophages as an alternative for biofilm eradication in Klebsiella Pneumonia Strains.

Background -Biofilms are a cause for a variety of infectious diseases given its abundant existence throughout nature. With the help of biofilm, the pathogenic bacteria are protected from unfavorable environments and conditions like extreme pH and temperature, high salinity, UV radiation. Most importantly is that it increases the resistance to antibiotics by 1000 times. Antimicrobial resistance has serious consequences not only in health care but also in food processing, drinking water distribution system, the paper industry, and others.

Materials and Methods – In our study were used three K. pneumoniae (kp41, kp42, kp47), and two P. aeruginosa strains (PA315, PA88). Klebsiella pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa specific bacteriophages (vB-kB-41, vB-Kp-42, vB-kp-47, vB-Psa-315, and vB-Psa-88) were used to test the formation of biofilm by using the Microtiter plate method (TCP) and Tube method (TM).

Results – All the tested bacteria showed to form biofilms in tubes, while on 96 well plates we could observe obvious biofilm with P. aeruginosa N88. With both methods, we had biofilm reduction that was treated with appropriate bacteriophages and incubated for 24 hours.

  Conclusion- Emerging antimicrobial resistance needs to be addressed before we run out of our potential antibiotics. Usage of biofilms can be one of the alternatives to effectively and specifically treat these serious gram-negative infections. A more standardized approach should be established for identification of such specific bacteriophage strains which curb the bacterial growth efficiently.