Volume 17, Supplement 1, 2009
Review
Biofilm and bacterial microorganisms in genito-urinary infections
Mazzoli Sandra
Biofilms represent a cohesive matrix of microrganisms and other cellular constituents that might be present in any natural environment. Microrganisms able to produce biofilms undergo a number of distinctive and typical phenomenon, such as adhesiveness on infected cellular surfaces that consequently becomes irreversible, so deeply changing the microrganisms physiological status. In addition, biofilms play a central role in consenting microrganisms to survive and subsequently to spread in the host, since exocellular matrix protects pathogen bacteria from antibodies and immunocompetent cells devoted to their destruction, and from antimicrobial agents. So, use of antimicrobials able to penetrate cellular membrane and to act into the cell has to be considered as essential in the treatment of infections that may possibly involve biofilm-producer microrganisms, considering their aggressive and virulent behaviour and their intrinsic bacterial resistance.
Chronic prostatitis and biofilm
Bartoletti Riccardo,
Cai Tommaso
Nowadays, inflammatory prostatic diseases represent one of the main social and economic problems that affect male gender in our country. The disease’s prevalence is estimated at 11-14% in European countries, and males aged between 20 and 50 years are the most affected subjects.
Bacterial prostatitis is documented at a very low prevalence (7-13% of prostatitis overall considered) due to either reduced utilization of viral and bacteriological tests (Meares test, urethral swab, bacterial and viral PCR) or to the possibility that individual patients show a scarce expression of bacterial disease in biological fluids, because of intraglandular biofilm presence, with subsequent spreading of the sole plankton microrganisms. Actually, the presence of a biofilm may possibly represent the reason for difficult diagnoses and ineffective antibacterial treatments.
