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Penetration of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm by the Cinnamon‐Derived Compound, Cinnamaldehyde
Author(s) -
Peach Aaron Preston,
Heuertz Rita
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1104.3
Subject(s) - biofilm , cinnamaldehyde , staphylococcus aureus , microbiology and biotechnology , antimicrobial , penetration (warfare) , bacteria , chemistry , bacterial growth , agar , biology , biochemistry , genetics , operations research , engineering , catalysis
Biofilms have become increasingly problematic in efficacious treatment of patient infections due to their tenacious survival, association with chronic and medical device‐associated infections, and resistance to antimicrobial treatments. Of grave concern is the observation that biofilm is frequently a contributory component of antimicrobic resistance and treatment failure in patient infections. Review of the literature reveals that many plant‐derived compounds have anti‐bacterial properties; however, biofilm effects have not been reported. Staphylococcus aureus is known for its multi‐drug resistant strains (MRSA) and plant‐based therapy may be appropriate for treatment of antimicrobic‐resistant bacteria. Our laboratory identified that the cinnamon‐derived compound, cinnamaldehyde, inhibited biofilm production by MRSA in a concentration‐dependent manner. To further this line of study, a penetration assay was developed to determine if cinnamaldehyde was able to penetrate biofilm produced by S. aureus . Briefly, a biofilm‐producing strain of S. aureus ( ATCC 29213) was grown on disks of nitrocellulose (pore size 0.45 μm) or Whatman 1 filter paper (pore size 11 μm) and positioned onto Mueller Hinton agar plates streaked with a different S. aureus (ATCC 25923) so as to produce a lawn of growth after incubation. Cinnamaldehyde (at different concentrations) was placed onto the top of the biofilm‐coated disks and plates were incubated. If cinnamaldehyde was able to penetrate the bacterial biofilm on the disk, then it inhibited the lawn of S. aureus growth. Assay development results indicated that application of cinnamaldehyde directly to ATCC 25923 S. aureus inhibited its lawn of growth and that nitrocellulose and filter paper were both acceptable for use in the penetration assay. Early studies suggested that cinnamaldehyde penetrated the biofilm layer: these studies are on‐going. With many infections being associated with biofilms, it is timely to focus on plant‐derived compounds as antimicrobial agents. Support or Funding Information Financial support for AP was received from the DeNardo Education and Research Foundation.