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JAC Advance Access originally published online on June 26, 2007
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2007 60(3):546-554; doi:10.1093/jac/dkm222
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The effect of recombinant human lactoferrin on growth and the antibiotic susceptibility of the cystic fibrosis pathogen Burkholderia cepacia complex when cultured planktonically or as biofilms

Emma M. Caraher1,2, Kiranmai Gumulapurapu1, Clifford C. Taggart3, Philip Murphy4,5, Siobhán McClean1,2 and Máire Callaghan1,2,*

1 Centre of Microbial Host Interaction, Department of Science, Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT-Dublin), Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland 2 National Institute of Cellular Biotechnology (NICB), ITT-Dublin, Ireland 3 Department of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland 4 The Adelaide, Meath Incorporating the National Children's Hospital (AMNCH), Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland 5 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Received 19 February 2007; returned 19 April 2007; revised 24 May 2007; accepted 24 May 2007

* Correspondence address. Department of Science, ITT-Dublin, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland. Tel: +353-1-4042882; Fax: +353-1-4042700; E-mail: maire.callaghan{at}ittdublin.ie

Objectives: The cystic fibrosis (CF) pathogen Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) is innately resistant to antibiotics and the development of effective therapeutic strategies to treat these infections is a major challenge. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of recombinant human lactoferrin (rHL) on planktonic and biofilm cultures of Bcc organisms and to establish whether lactoferrin alters the susceptibility of these cultures to a range of antibiotic therapies.

Methods: Planktonic and biofilm cultures of strains representative of three species of Bcc, Burkholderia multivorans, Burkholderia cenocepacia and Burkholderia dolosa, were exposed to 0–900 mg/L lactoferrin over 0–48 h. Growth was determined using both spectrophotometric and plate counting methods. The ability of these strains to form and develop biofilms in vitro was also examined. Antimicrobial susceptibility in the presence/absence of lactoferrin was assessed using conventional MICs and a modified method was used to determine biofilm susceptibility to various antibiotics.

Results: We found that physiological concentrations of lactoferrin inhibited the growth of both planktonic and biofilm cultures of Bcc in vitro. The addition of lactoferrin to rifampicin enhanced the antibiotic susceptibility of the Bcc strains when grown planktonically and as biofilms.

Conclusions: The present study demonstrates the growth inhibitory and antibiofilm activity of rHL against different species of Bcc. Furthermore, the enhanced susceptibility of both planktonic and biofilm cultures to rifampicin in the presence of lactoferrin offers the potential for novel uses of antibiotics in combination with lactoferrin to treat Bcc infections in CF patients.

Keywords: bacterial biofilms , biofilm inhibitory concentrations , rifampicin


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