title: The effects of three non-antibiotic, antimicrobial agents on the surface hydrophobicity of certain micro-organisms evaluated by different methods.
abstract: The effects of three non-antibiotic, antimicrobial agents (taurolidine, chlorhexidine acetate and providone-iodine) on the surface hydrophobicity of the clinical strains Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans were examined. Three recognized techniques for hydrophobicity measurements, Bacterial Adherence to Hydrocarbons (BATH), the Salt Aggregation Test (SAT) and Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography (HIC) were compared. At concentrations reported to interfere with microbial-epithelial cell adherence, all three agents altered the cell surface hydrophobicity. However, these effects failed to exhibit a uniform relationship. Generally, taurolidine and povidone-iodine treatments decreased the hydrophobicity of the strains examined whereas chlorhexidine acetate effects depended upon the micro-organism treated. Subsequently, the exact contribution of altered cell surface hydrophobicity to the reported microbial anti-adherence effects is unclear. Comparison of the three techniques revealed a better correlation between the results obtained with the BATH test and HIC than the results obtained with the BATH and SAT or SAT and HIC. However, these differences may be due to the inaccuracy associated with the visual assessment of results employed by the SAT.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, The Queen's University, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Gorman
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: McCafferty
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Woolfson
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D011206:Povidone-Iodine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000187:drug effects; D013654:Taurine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D013829:Thiadiazines / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D013829:Thiadiazines; D013654:Taurine; D011206:Povidone-Iodine; C012566:taurolidine; D002710:Chlorhexidine