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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1477317
This article is part of the Research Topic Therapeutic and Protective Approaches to Gastrointestinal Tract Infections View all articles

Subinhibitory Concentrations of Antibiotics Affect Development and Parameters of Helicobacter pylori Biofilm

Provisionally accepted
Paweł Krzyżek Paweł Krzyżek 1*Paweł Migdał Paweł Migdał 2Kaja Tusiewicz Kaja Tusiewicz 3Marcin Zawadzki Marcin Zawadzki 3Paweł Szpot Paweł Szpot 3
  • 1 Department of Microbiology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland
  • 2 Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Silesian, Poland
  • 3 Department of Forensic Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Silesian, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastric diseases in nearly 50% of people around the world. It is suggested that biofilm formation has a pronounced effect on the dynamic resistance spread and recurrence of these infections. To mimic the scenario of therapeutic ineffectiveness, we investigated the impact of sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of antibiotics on the development and parameters of biofilms produced by clinical H. pylori strains. We observed that constant exposure to metronidazole or levofloxacin stimulated the speed of autoaggregation and the amount of extracellular matrix, resulting in increased dimensions of the developed biofilms. Contrary to this, continuous exposure to clarithromycin negatively affected a number of stress-related reactions and led to the biofilm-weakening effect. Through assessing the membrane fatty acid profiles of antibiotic-exposed cells, we confirmed that metronidazole and levofloxacin induced a biofilm-like phenotype, while clarithromycin kept bacteria in a planktonic form. Our results suggest that sub-MICs of antibiotics affect the biochemical and biophysical properties of the developing biofilm of H. pylori strains and may impact the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment.

    Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, Biofilm formation, Biofilm matrix, antibiotic tolerance, antibiotic stress, Membrane fatty acids

    Received: 07 Aug 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Krzyżek, Migdał, Tusiewicz, Zawadzki and Szpot. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Paweł Krzyżek, Department of Microbiology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.