Acinetobacter baumannii Biofilm Formation in Human Serum and Disruption by Gallium

• Published in: Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy Vol. 61; no. 1
• Main Authors: Runci, Federica, Bonchi, Carlo, Frangipani, Emanuela, Visaggio, Daniela, Visca, Paolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Acinetobacter baumannii; Acinetobacter baumannii - drug effects; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Biofilms; Biofilms - drug effects; Gallium; Gallium - pharmacology; Humans; Mechanisms of Action: Physiological Effects; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; iron metabolism; iron; Acinetobacter baumannii; gallium; serum; biofilm
• ISSN: 0066-4804; 1098-6596
• DOI: 10.1128/AAC.01563-16

Biofilm-associated infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii are extremely recalcitrant to antibiotic treatment. We report that A. baumannii develops a mature biofilm when grown in complement-free human serum (HS). We demonstrate that 16 μM gallium nitrate (GaN) drastically reduces A. baumannii growth and biofilm formation in HS, whereas 64 μM GaN causes massive disruption of preformed A. baumannii biofilm. These findings pave the way to the repurposing of GaN as an antibiofilm agent for A. baumannii.