title: Assessing the activity of microbicides against bacterial spores: knowledge and pitfalls.
abstract: Bacterial endospores (spores) have a higher intrinsic resistance to microbicides as compared to other microbial forms, most likely due to their impermeable outer layers and low water content. Though structural differences between the spores of various bacterial species may account for observed variations in their resistance to microbicides, flaws in methods for testing the sporicidal activity of microbicides often exaggerate the differences. This has major implications when considering the selection of one or more surrogates to assess microbicides against clinically relevant spore-formers such as Clostridium difficile. The mounting significance of Cl. difficile as a pathogen is leading to a corresponding increase in the number of commercially available microbicidal formulations claiming activity against its spores without proper differentiation between the product's sporistatic and sporicidal actions. In this review we critically assess the situation and the implications of product claims on the field use of microbicidal products.
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Leggett
authors.affiliation: UConn Health, Farmington, CT, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Setlow
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sattar
authors.affiliation: Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: J-Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Maillard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
keywords: Clostridium difficile; microbicides; spores; sporicidal; sporicides; sporistatic