Low Concentrations of Nitric Oxide Modulate Streptococcus pneumoniae Biofilm Metabolism and Antibiotic Tolerance.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus pneumoniaeis one of the key pathogens responsible for otitis media (OM), the most common infection in children and the largest cause of childhood antibiotic prescription. Novel therapeutic strategies that reduce the overall antibiotic consumption due to OM are required because, although widespread pneumococcal conjugate immunization has controlled invasive pneumococcal disease, overall OM incidence has not decreased. Biofilm formation represents an important phenotype contributing to the antibiotic tolerance and persistence ofS. pneumoniaein chronic or recurrent OM. We investigated the treatment of pneumococcal biofilms with nitric oxide (NO), an endogenous signaling molecule and therapeutic agent that has been demonstrated to trigger biofilm dispersal in other bacterial spec

SUBMITTER: Allan RN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4808185 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature