Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 supernatant prevents lipopolysaccharide-induced preterm birth and reduces inflammation in pregnant CD-1 mice

Authors

Gregor Reid

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1995

Journal

Methods in Enzymology

Volume

253

Issue

C

First Page

514

Last Page

519

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.1016/S0076-6879(95)53042-8

Abstract

This chapter provides an awareness of the parameters that must be considered in performing microbial experiments on biomaterials and describes procedures to undertake such studies. The adhesion of organisms to metal, polymer, and other surfaces can be applied to industrial, environmental, and medical areas. The chapter focuses on adhesion related to infectious diseases, and as most cases relate to bacterial adhesion, only these organisms are discussed. There are many methods that can be utilized to determine the extent of bacterial adhesion to biomaterials. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) can be useful in visualizing adherent organisms but relatively small sections tend to be examined and the preparation of material may skew the results. For example, in the case of a hydrophilic coated material, the surface may come off along with adherent organisms on fixation and washing. The use of fluorescent antibody, acridine orange, crystal violet, and Gram stain can allow enumeration if the material is flat and smooth. Using radiolabeled bacteria is also feasible but that approach is not often used in the study of adhesion to biomaterials. Several of these methods are being utilized, along with image analysis to quantitate the data. However, the techniques do not indicate if the adherent bacteria are viable and this is often important to know in clinically relevant experiments such as in documentation of biofilms on ureteral stents of patients treated with antibiotics. Thus, a sonication technique has been developed and employed. © 1995, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.