Irrigation with N,N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine (NVC-422) in a citrate buffer maintains urinary catheter patency in vitro and prevents encrustation by Proteus mirabilis.

Long-term use of indwelling urinary catheters can lead to urinary tract infections and loss of catheter patency due to encrustation and blockage. Encrustation of urinary catheters is due to formation of crystalline biofilms by urease-producing microorganisms such as Proteus mirabilis. An in vitro catheter biofilm model (CBM) was used to evaluate current methods for maintaining urinary catheter patency.

The in vitro antimicrobial activity of wound and skin cleansers at nontoxic concentrations.

Objective: To determine in vitro antibacterial activity of commercially available skin, wound, and skin/wound cleansers at cell-safe (nontoxic) concentrations.

Design: Saline and 19 other commercial wound and skin cleansers were evaluated for cytotoxic effects on mouse dermal fibroblasts. Cells were exposed to serial 10-fold dilutions of each cleanser until treatment-induced cytotoxicity was comparable to the baseline cytotoxicity of unexposed control fibroblasts.

Treatment of Acute Necrotizing Fasciitis Using Negative Pressure Wound Therapy and Adjunctive NeutroPhase Irrigation Under the Foam.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a complication of a bacterial infection that activates the immune system in perifascial planes. This case report highlights initial diagnostic failures that delay early treatment, which causes profoundly negative consequences. Antimicrobial control with abolition of the inciting bacteria does not neutralize the subsequent endopathologic ravages.

Broad-spectrum virucidal activity of (NVC-422) N,N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine against viral ocular pathogens in vitro.

Purpose: Viral conjunctivitis is a highly contagious infection often causing major epidemics. A safe broad-spectrum antiviral agent is needed to treat this unmet medical need. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that in vitro NVC-422 is a safe, broad-spectrum topical virucidal agent with activity against ophthalmic viral pathogens.

NeutroPhase(®) in chronic non-healing wounds.

Chronic non-healing wounds, such as venous stasis ulcers, diabetic ulcers, and pressure ulcers are serious unmet medical needs that affect a patient's morbidity and mortality. Common pathogens observed in chronic non-healing wounds are Staphylococcus including MRSA, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Stenotrophomonas, and Serratia spp. Topical and systemically administered antibiotics do not adequately decrease the level of bacteria or the associated biofilm in chronic granulating wounds and the use of sub-lethal concentrations of antibiotics can lead to resistant phenotypes.

NVC-422 inactivates Staphylococcus aureus toxins.

Bacterial pathogens have specific virulence factors (e.g., toxins) that contribute significantly to the virulence and infectivity of microorganisms within the human hosts.

Spatial patterns of DNA replication, protein synthesis, and oxygen concentration within bacterial biofilms reveal diverse physiological states.

It has long been suspected that microbial biofilms harbor cells in a variety of activity states, but there have been few direct experimental visualizations of this physiological heterogeneity. Spatial patterns of DNA replication and protein synthetic activity were imaged and quantified in staphylococcal biofilms using immunofluorescent detection of pulse-labeled DNA and also an inducible green fluorescent protein (GFP) construct. Stratified patterns of DNA synthetic and protein synthetic activity were observed in all three biofilm systems to which the techniques were applied.

Biofilm-control strategies based on enzymic disruption of the extracellular polymeric substance matrix--a modelling study.

A kinetic model is proposed to assess the feasibility of strategies for the removal of biofilms by using substances that induce detachment by affecting the cohesiveness of the matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs). The model uses a two-state description of the EPS (natural EPS and compromised EPS) to provide a unified representation of diverse mechanisms of action of detachment-promoting agents (DPAs), which include enzymes that degrade the EPS and other agents described in the literature. A biofilm-cohesiveness factor describes local increases in detachment rates resultant from losses in cohesive strength.

Rapid diffusion of fluorescent tracers into Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms visualized by time lapse microscopy.

The transient diffusion of fluorescent tracers into biofilm cell clusters of Staphylococcus epidermidis was visualized by time lapse confocal scanning laser microscopy. Rhodamine B diffused into the center of cell clusters that were 200 to 600 microm in diameter within a few minutes. The apparent effective diffusion coefficient calculated from these data averaged 3.