Low Concentrations of Acetic and Formic Acids Enhance the Inactivation of Staphylococcus Aureus and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa with Pulsed Electric Fields

Overview

Journal BMC Microbiol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2019 Apr 5

PMID 30943901

Citations 5

Authors

Vitalij Novickij

Egle Lastauskiene

Gediminas Staigvila

Irute Girkontaite

Aukse Zinkeviciene

Jurgita Svediene

Algimantas Paskevicius

Svetlana Markovskaja

Jurij Novickij

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Skin infections, particularly caused by drug-resistant pathogens, represent a clinical challenge due to being a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study were to examine if low concentrations of acetic and formic acids can increase sensitivity of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to pulsed electric field (PEF) and thus, promote a fast and efficient treatment methodology for wound treatment.

Results: We have shown that the combination of PEF (10-30 kV/cm) with organic acids (0.1% formic and acetic acids) increased the bactericidal properties of treatment. The effect was apparent for both acids. The proposed methodology allowed to reduce the energy of electrical pulses and the inhibitory concentrations of acids, while still maintain high efficiency of bacteria eradication.

Conclusions: Application of weak organic acids as bactericidal agents has many advantages over antibiotics because they do not trigger development of drug-resistance in bacteria. The combination with PEF can make the treatment effective even against biofilms. The results of this study are particularly useful for the development of new methodologies for the treatment of extreme cases of wound infections when the chemical treatment is no longer effective or hinders wound healing.

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