Medical biofilms – Its formation and prevention using organic molecules

Abstract

Biofilms play a significant role in the area of clinical medicine. Currently research is in progress to understand their formation with a view to develop preventive measures to fight the infections caused due to biofilms that are formed on implanted medical devices. The determination of biofilm architecture, particularly the spatial arrangement of micro colonies (clusters of cells) relative to one another, has profound implications for the function of these complex communities. Moreover, standard antimicrobial treatment fails to eradicate biofilms, due to the organisms adaptive resistance towards antibiotics. The need of the hour is the development of antimicrobial molecules or various combination techniques to counter biofilm infections. This review explains the mechanism of biofilm development and the reasons for its resistance to antimicrobial agents. Also various possible preventive measures, in particular development of anti microbial small molecules, are also discussed.