Biofilm Infections--A Major Challenge in Medicine
One of the greatest challenges of our times is the complete eradication of infections from the body. Although acute infections have been taken care of, more or less, with antibiotics, the usage of this class of drugs, unfortunately, has promoted the emergence of persistent, chronic infections, in addition to the classical conferment of drug resistance. Biofilms are slime, formed in response to 'environmental' stress of various types, such as the immune system, nutritional stress, antibiotics or other toxicants, as a means to survival. They are composed of a self-assembled extracellular matrix of microbial polymeric carbohydrates, proteins, ribonucleic acid(DNA), fats, in addition to host proteins like fibrin, as well as minerals, and the pathogen. In addition, lipase is secreted, and it helps launch channels(porins) in the host membrane. Biofilms are tough to break or for the immune system and antibiotics to penetrate, hence the difficulty to treat infections in the plaqu...