Disinfecting Action of Gaseous Ozone on OXA-48-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Biofilm In Vitro

Kaća Piletić, Bruno Kovač, Marko Perčić, Jure Žigon, Dalibor Broznić, Ljerka Karleuša, Sanja Lučić Blagojević, Martina Oder and Ivana Gobin
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Kaća Piletić: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Bruno Kovač: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Marko Perčić: Faculty of Engineering & Centre for Micro- and Nanosciences and Technologies, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Jure Žigon: Department of Wood Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dalibor Broznić: Department of Medical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Ljerka Karleuša: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
Sanja Lučić Blagojević: Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Martina Oder: Department of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ivana Gobin: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Klebsiella pneumoniae is an emerging multidrug-resistant pathogen that can contaminate hospital surfaces in the form of a biofilm which is hard to remove with standard disinfectants. Because of biofilm resistance to conservative disinfectants, the application of new disinfection technologies is becoming more frequent. Ozone gas has antimicrobial activity but there is lack of data on its action against K. pneumoniae biofilm. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of action of gaseous ozone on the OXA-48-procuding K. pneumoniae biofilm. A 24 h biofilm of K. pneumoniae formed on ceramic tiles was subsequently exposed to different concentrations of ozone during one and two hours to determine the optimal ozone concentration. Afterwards, the total bacteria count, total biomass and oxidative stress levels were monitored. A total of 25 ppm of gaseous ozone was determined to be optimal ozone concentration and caused reduction in total bacteria number in all strains of K. pneumoniae for 2.0 log 10 CFU/cm 2 , followed by reduction in total biomass up to 88.15%. Reactive oxygen species levels significantly increased after the ozone treatment at 182% for the representative K. pneumoniae NCTC 13442 strain. Ozone gas in the concentration of 25 ppm caused significant biofilm reduction but did not completely eradicate the K. pneumoniae biofilm formed on ceramics. In conclusion, ozone gas has great potential to be used as an additional hygiene measure in joint combat against biofilm in hospital environments.

Keywords: biofilm; gaseous disinfection; hospital-acquired infections; K. pneumoniae; multidrug-resistant microorganisms; OXA-48 disinfection; ozone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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