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J Med Microbiol 58 (2009), 442-450; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.006387-0
© 2009 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 0022-2615

Comparison of various antimicrobial agents as catheter lock solutions: preference for ethanol in eradication of coagulase-negative staphylococcal biofilms

Yue Qu1, Taghrid S. Istivan1, Andrew J. Daley2, Duncan A. Rouch1 and Margaret A. Deighton1

1 School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Plenty Road, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia

2 Department of Microbiology, The Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia

Correspondence
Margaret A. Deighton
m_deighton{at}rmit.edu.au

Received September 4, 2008
Accepted January 5, 2009

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the main causative agents of bacteraemia in infants managed in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Intraluminal colonization of long-term central venous catheters by these bacteria and subsequent biofilm formation are the prerequisites of the bloodstream infections acquired in NICUs. The catheter lock technique has been used to treat catheter colonization; however, the optimum choice of antimicrobial agents and their corresponding concentrations and exposure times have not been determined. The effectiveness of catheter lock solutions (CLSs) was assessed by determining the minimal biofilm eradication concentration of antimicrobial agents against CoNS biofilms. Five conventional antibiotics (oxacillin, gentamicin, vancomycin, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin) alone or in combination, as well as ethanol, were evaluated. Ethanol was found to be superior to all of these conventional antibiotics when used as a CLS. A time–kill study and confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that exposure to 40 % ethanol for 1 h was sufficient to kill CoNS biofilm cells. To our knowledge, this is the first in vitro study to provide solid evidence to support the rationale of using ethanol at low concentrations for a short time as a CLS, instead of using conventional antibiotics at high concentrations for a long period to treat catheter-related bloodstream infections.

Abbreviations: CLS, catheter lock solution; CLSM, confocal laser-scanning microscopy; CLT, catheter lock technique; CoNS, coagulase-negative staphylococci; CRBSI, catheter-related bloodstream infection; MBEC, minimal biofilm eradication concentration; NICU, neonatal intensive care unit; PI, propidium iodide.






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