title: Surface free energy and interaction of Staphylococcus epidermidis with biomaterials.
abstract: The adhesion of twenty nine Staphylococcus epidermidis strains to teflon, polyethylene, polycarbonate and bovine pericardium was studied in vitro and examined in relation to the surface free energies of both bacteria and biomaterials. All S. epidermidis strains had similar surface free energies, close to that of water, and adhered better to the materials with analogous surface free energies. There was a significant correlation (Kendall's Tau B = 1000) of biomaterial's surface free energy with the number of adhering bacteria. This correlation is inverse (Kendall's Tau B = -1000) when surface hydrophobicity is considered instead of surface free energy. This indicates that in Staphylococcus epidermidis adherence to biomaterials is inversely correlated to the surface hydrophobicity of the last, being so just the opposite of that occurring with other bacteria.
authors: Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia,Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors: C M
authors: CM
authors: Ferreirós
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Carballo
authors: M T
authors: MT
authors: Criado
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Sáinz
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: del Río
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006801:Humans; D011108:Polymers; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers