title: Optimizing future treatment of enterococcal infections: attacking the biofilm?
abstract: Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are among the leading causative agents of nosocomial infections and are infamous for their resistance to many antibiotics. They cause difficult-to-treat infections, often originating from biofilm-mediated infections associated with implanted medical devices or endocarditis. Biofilms protect bacteria against antibiotics and phagocytosis, and physical removal of devices or infected tissue is often needed but is frequently not possible. Currently there are no clinically available compounds that disassemble biofilms. In this review we discuss all known structural and regulatory genes involved in enterococcal biofilm formation, the compounds directed against biofilm formation that have been studied, and potentially useful targets for future drugs to treat enterococcal biofilm-associated infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fernanda L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Paganelli
authors.forename: Rob J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Leavis
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016984:Enterococcus faecium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D037521:Virulence Factors