Chapter 7 - Microbial biofilms in the human: Diversity and potential significances in health and disease

Abstract

Microbial biofilm is known to be structured consortium surrounded by self-produced polysaccharide matrix. The capability of microbes to develop biofilms is a significant element of their pathogenicity and is a serious challenge for today’s medicine. The biofilms are responsible for many chronic infections because they are highly resistant to most of the antimicrobials. A number of antibiotics have been tested against the biofilms, but microbes in biofilm mode have been found to be less sensitive to the treatments. In past few decades, there is a dramatic increase in the antibiotic resistance either to one or many antibiotics. It has been estimated that biofilm-associated infections reoccur in approximately 65–80% of cases. Thus, developing strategies against increasing antibiotic resistance is a major global challenge for scientific community and, in fact, important for public health. The present chapter describes the major steps involved in the formation of the biofilms, highlighting the biofilm-forming pathogenic microbes, their role in device-related, and other infections. Further, the chapter also takes into account the mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance in biofilms and what could be the successful strategies to control and treat these biofilms.