Antimicrobial effect of commercial phage preparation Stafal® on biofilm and planktonic forms of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus may be a highly virulent human pathogen, especially when it is able to form a biofilm, and it is resistant to antibiotic. Infections caused by these bacteria significantly affect morbidity and mortality, primarily in hospitalized patients. Treatment becomes more expensive, more toxic, and prolonged. This is the reason why research on alternative therapies should be one of the main priorities of medicine and biotechnology. A promising alternative treatment approach is bacteriophage therapy. The effect of the anti-staphylococcal bacteriophage preparation Stafal® on biofilm reduction was assessed on nine S. aureus strains using both sonication with subsequent quantification of surviving cells on the catheter surface and evaluation of biofilm reduction in microtiter plates. It was demonstrated that the bacteriophages destroy planktonic cells very effectively. However, to destroy cells embedded in the biofilm effectively requires a concentration at least ten times higher than that provided by the commercial preparation. The catheter disc method (CDM) allowed easier comparison of the effect on planktonic cells and cells in a biofilm than the microtiter plate (MTP) method.

Comparison of occurence lactic acid bacteria in chosen yogurts

The yogurt is healthy food, which contains at least 100 million cultures per gram. Probiotic bacteria have been proven to reduce the effects of some gastrointestinal problems, probiotics can greatly reduce lactose intolerance, have also been proven to prevent colon cancers, there are also a natural immune system booster. In our research we detected numbers of lactid acid bacteria in yogurts in slovak market. There were classical yogurts, yogurts with probiotics, yogurts with fat and non fat. We numbered lactid acid bacteria from and after expiration, in agars MRS and Lee´s. In examined yogurts we detected from expiration from 78.107  to 169.107  and after expiration from 59.107 to 133.107 lactic acid bacteria in 1 ml of yogurt. In agreement with Food Codex of SR (2010) of rules all these yogurts satisfy number of lactid acid bacteria.