Antimicrobial effects of microwave-induced plasma torch (MiniMIP) treatment on Candida albicans biofilms

Oliver Handorf, Uta Schnabel, André Bösel, Thomas Weihe, Sander Bekeschus, Alexander Christian Graf, Katharina Riedel, Jörg Ehlbeck

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The susceptibility of Candida albicans biofilms to a non-thermal plasma treatment has been investigated in terms of growth, survival and cell viability by a series of in vitro experiments. For different time periods, the C. albicans strain SC5314 was treated with a microwave-induced plasma torch (MiniMIP). The MiniMIP treatment had a strong effect (reduction factor (RF) = 2.97 after 50 s treatment) at a distance of 3 cm between the nozzle and the superior regions of the biofilms. In addition, a viability reduction of 77% after a 20 s plasma treatment and a metabolism reduction of 90% after a 40 s plasma treatment time were observed for C. albicans. After such a treatment, the biofilms revealed an altered morphology of their cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Additionally, fluorescence microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analyses of plasma-treated biofilms showed that an inactivation of cells mainly appeared on the bottom side of the biofilms. Thus, the plasma inactivation of the overgrown surface reveals a new possibility to combat biofilms.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1034-1048
    Number of pages15
    JournalMicrobial Biotechnology
    Volume12
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

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