Abstract
Multidrug resistant bacteria are one of the most serious public health threats nowadays. How bacteria, as a population, react to the presence of antibiotics is of major importance to the outcome of the chosen treatment. In this study we addressed the impact of oxacillin, a β-lactam, the most clinically relevant class of antibiotics, in the viscosity profile of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain COL. In the first approach, the antibiotic was added, at concentrations under the minimum inhibitory concentration (sub-MIC), to the culture of S. aureus and steady-state shear flow curves were obtained for discrete time points during the bacterial growth, with and without the presence of the antibiotic, showing distinct viscosity progress over time. The different behaviors obtained led us to test the impact of the sub-inhibitory concentration and a concentration that inhibited growth. In the second approach, the viscosity growth curves were measured at a constant shear rate of 10 s−1, over time. The obtained rheological behaviors revealed distinctive characteristics associated to the presence of each concentration of the tested antibiotic. These results bring new insights to the bacteria response to a well-known bacteriolytic antibiotic.
Highlights
Bacterial multidrug resistance is the root of the antibiotic crisis that humankind is beginning to face and that will become disastrous in the very near future
In this study we addressed the impact of the β-lactam antibiotic oxacillin (Oxa) on the early methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain COL [12]
The optical density of a COL culture, in function of the added antibiotic concentration, was measured over growth and, as expected, the growth rate of the antibiotic concentration, was measured over growth and, as expected, the growth rate of the population population challenged with increasing concentrations of oxacillin, decreased see Figure challenged with increasing concentrations of oxacillin, decreased see Figure 1a
Summary
Bacterial multidrug resistance is the root of the antibiotic crisis that humankind is beginning to face and that will become disastrous in the very near future. In view of the increasing shortage of available therapies that are efficient against bacterial strains that have adapted and developed numerous resistance mechanisms, new strategies are needed. Many parameters influence the outcome, such as presence of other microorganisms, the host immune system or nutrient limitations. Another important factor, often neglected, is the shear stress conditions to which bacteria are submitted, inside and outside the host. To develop new antibacterial strategies, knowledge must be obtained on how the bacteria respond to the presence of antibiotics and under shear stress, as a complex population both as biofilms and in the planktonic state
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