INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF GLYCANS IN ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF BIOFILM-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS

Biofilms are ecosystems in which microbial cells are embedded in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) such as polysaccharides, proteins, lipids, and extracellular DNA. The composition, properties and dynamics of the biofilm matrix influence bacterial growth and antibiotic resistance.[1] The National Institute of Health of the United States declares that over 80% of microbial infections in the body are due to biofilms and are associated with nosocomial infections. Among biofilm-producing bacteria, P. aeruginosa is responsible for both acute and chronic infections in individuals with pneumonia or cystic fibrosis (CF). P. aeruginosa produces a huge amount of different extracellular polysaccharides and modifies the structure of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) when isolated from patients.[2] It has been demonstrated that the phenotypic alteration and biofilm production are correlated with nutritional limitation within the respiratory tract of CF patients rather than unique characteristics of these bacterial strains and may be the cause of the lack of therapeutic effects.[3] Clinical isolates including P. aereuginosa wild type (WT) strains obtained from recently infected CF patients and multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pan-drug-resistant (PDR) will be considered in this presentation. The study of the glycans from these microorganisms will be done by using Mass Spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The results obtained will be compared with the reference strain PAO14 to highlight structural differences.