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Previous studies on the antimicrobial activity of cold atmospheric pressure argon plasma showed varying effects against mecA<sup>+</sup> or mecA<sup>-</sup>Staphylococcus aureus strains. This observation may have important clinical and epidemiological implications. Here, the antibacterial activity of argon plasma was investigated against 78 genetically different S. aureus strains, stratified by mecA, luk-P, agr1-4, or the cell wall capsule polysaccharide types 5 and 8. kINPen09® served as the plasma source for all experiments. On agar plates, mecA<sup>+</sup>luk-P<sup>-</sup>S. aureus strains showed a decreased susceptibility against plasma compared to other S. aureus strains. This study underlines the high complexity of microbial defence against antimicrobial treatment and confirms a previously reported strain-dependent susceptibility of S. aureus to plasma treatment.
Because of some disadvantages of chemical disinfection in dental practice (especially denture cleaning), we investigated the effects of physical methods on Candida albicans biofilms. For this purpose, the antifungal efficacy of three different low-temperature plasma devices (an atmospheric pressure plasma jet and two different dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs)) on Candida albicans biofilms grown on titanium discs in vitro was investigated. As positive treatment controls, we used 0.1% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) and 0.6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The corresponding gas streams without plasma ignition served as negative treatment controls. The efficacy of the plasma treatment was determined evaluating the number of colony-forming units (CFU) recovered from titanium discs. The plasma treatment reduced the CFU significantly compared to chemical disinfectants. While 10 min CHX or NaOCl exposure led to a CFU log10 reduction factor of 1.5, the log10 reduction factor of DBD plasma was up to 5. In conclusion, the use of low-temperature plasma is a promising physical alternative to chemical antiseptics for dental practice.