Evaluation of the anti-biofilm properties of ciprofloxacin

INTRODUCTION Persistent and chronic bacterial infections have been directly linked to the presence of microbial biofilms [1, 2]. Microbial biofilms are sessile communities of one or more microorganism that reside within a self-produced extracellular matrix (Figure 1). These cellular aggregates can form on living and non-living surfaces, soluble and in-soluble materials, are fairly ubiquitous in natural ecosystems, and have serious implications to human health. The inherent characteristic of microbial biofilms is a remarkable tolerance to treatment with antibiotics traditionally effective against planktonic (free floating) bacteria [3]. Although the existence of biofilms has long been recognized, the realization that these microbial communities are the root of many health care problems occurred only a few decades ago. Nowadays, microbial biofilms are considered to be main contributors to over 80% of all clinical infections, with estimated 1.7 million people yearly falling victim to a biofilm-related infection in the U.S. alone. Of this number, around 100,000 patients die annually [4, 5]. The recognition of the importance and the implications of microbial biofilms has brought about the need for novel antimicrobial technologies and hence development and implementation of methods for anti-biofilm efficacy screening.