Fibrin Biofilms and Chronic Diseases
We have not yet approached all the diseases biofilm enzymes can potentially help. There are many articles and studies in the Lyme disease section of our “A-Z List”. Many of which explain how researchers are finding that biofilms, cysts and scarring are part of the reason chronic diseases are chronic.
These biofilms are protective barriers chronic pathogens put up to shield them from our immune system, drugs and other enemies. Fibrin is the webbing that holds them together. Our Biofilm Enzymes consists of a blend of enzymes designed to dissolve fibrin and biofilm barriers.
We have discussed some illnesses in detail but offer this list as a Potential for considering biofilm enzymes as a help in overcoming them.
Chronic Disease List
The Chronic Disease List (CDL) specifies medication and treatment for the 25 chronic conditions that are covered in this section of the PMBs:
Addison’s disease
Alzheimer’s
Asthma
Bronchiectasis
Cardiac failure
Cardiomyopathy
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder
Chronic renal disease
Coronary artery disease
Crohn’s disease
Diabetes insipidus
Diabetes mellitus types 1 & 2
Dysrhythmias
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
Haemophilia
Hyperlipidaemia
Hypertension
Hypothyroidism
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson’s disease
Rheumatoid arthritis
Schizophrenia
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Ulcerative colitis
Biofilm Diseases
What follows is a list of diseases which have been linked to biofilms. It is a list that is being compiled, so some diseases have comments, while others do not. The list will be expanded upon as we do more research into the different diseases.
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
Atherosclerosis – Biofilm may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. Ott et al’s work showed diverse groups of bacterial “signatures” in atherosclerotic lesions of patients with coronary heart disease. In a commentary following Ott’s paper, Katz and Shannon concluded that his work suggested that atherosclerotic plaques are composed of “functional biofilm.” The team noted that the characteristics of a “mature” arterial wall make it well-suited for biofilm formation and explains the inefficacy of antibiotics, such as macrolides or fluoroquinolones, in clinical trials.(1)
Autism
Bladder – Scanning electron images of the surface of a mouse bladder infected with urinary tract infection show large intracellular communities of biofilm bacteria inside pods. Uninfected bladders appeared smooth, but infected bladders had bumps all over them. “It was spectacular!” senior author S.J. Hultgren recalled in the accompanying Science article. “They looked like fried eggs on the surface of the bladder.”
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic Sinusitis – One study found that biofilms are present on the removed tissue of two-thirds of patients undergoing surgery for chronic inflammation of the sinuses.(2)
Chronic Wounds – Biofilm have been implicated in chronic wounds. Dr. Randall Wolcott has published work offering strategies for managing wounds.
Cystic Fibrosis – The lungs of individuals with cystic fibrosis are colonized and infected by bacteria from an early age. These bacteria, which often spread amongst individuals with CF, thrive in the altered mucus, which collects in the small airways of the lungs. Over time, both the types of bacteria and their individual characteristics change in individuals with CF. In the initial stage, common bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Hemophilus influenzae colonize and infect the lungs. Eventually, however, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (and sometimes Burkholderia cepacia) dominates. Once within the lungs, these bacteria adapt to the environment and develop resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Pseudomonas can develop special characteristics that allow the formation of large colonies, known as “mucoid” Pseudomonas, which are rarely seen in people that do not have cystic fibrosis; this from a paper in Paediatric Respiratory Reviews.(3) Elkin and Geddes report infection by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the main cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with cystic fibrosis.(4)
Endocarditis – Mohamed and Huang report that inflammation of the smooth membranes which line the inside of the heart is caused by a complex biofilm composed of both bacterial and host components.(5)
Fibromyalgia
Inner Ear Infections – Hall-Stoodley et al. found the majority of ear infections are caused by biofilm bacteria.(6) These infections, which can be either acute or chronic, are referred to collectively as otitis media (OM). They are the most common illness for which children visit a physician, receive antibiotics, or undergo surgery in the United States.
Kidney Stones – Parsek and Singh report biofilms also cause the formation of kidney stones.(7) The stones cause symptoms of disease by obstructing urine flow and by producing inflammation and recurrent infection that can lead to kidney failure. Approximately 15%–20% of kidney stones occur in the setting of urinary tract infection and these stones are produced by the interplay between infecting bacteria and mineral substrates derived from the urine. This interaction results in a complex biofilm composed of bacteria, bacterial exoproducts, and mineralized stone material.
Leptospirosis – Biofilms also cause leptospirosis, a serious but neglected emerging disease that infects humans through contaminated water. Previously, scientists believed the bacteria associated with leptospirosis were planktonic (free-floating). One research team has shown that Leptospira interrogans can make biofilms, which could be one of the main factors controlling survival and disease transmission.(8) According to the study’s author, 90% of the species of Leptospira tested could form biofilms, and it takes L. interrogans an average of 20 days to make a biofilm.
Lyme & tick-born disease
Medical Devices Infections
Multiple Sclerosis
Osteomyelitis – Biofilms may also cause osteomyelitis, a disease in which the bones and bone marrow become infected. This is supported by the fact that microscopy studies have shown biofilm formation on infected bone surfaces from humans and experimental animal models.
Osteonecrosis And Osteomyelitis Of The Jaw – A report in The Journal of the American Dental Association found that out of 20 patients with these bone diseases, all exhibited large surface areas of bone occluded with well-developed biofilms.(9)
Periodontal Disease – Perhaps the most well-known and studied biofilm bacteria. Hundreds of microbial biofilm colonize the human mouth, causing tooth decay and gum disease.
Prosthetic Joints And Heart Valves – According to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine, pathogenic biofilms are also commonly found on medical devices such as joint prostheses and heart valves. Dr. Patel concluded that prosthetic joints increase the likelihood of biofilm infection.(10)
Urinary Tract Infections – In the case of UTIs, intracellular Escherichia coli can mature into biofilms, creating pod-like bulges on the bladder surface and this explains how bladder infections can persist in the face of robust host defenses. “The idea that biofilms might form inside human cells is really novel,” says internist Pradeep Singh of the University of Iowa College of Medicine in Iowa City, who studies lung biofilms that plague children with cystic fibrosis.
Veterinary Diseases – Biofilms have also been implicated in a wide array of veterinary diseases according to Clutterbuck et al.(11)
References
1. Katz, JT, Shannon, RP. Bacteria and coronary atheroma: more fingerprints but no smoking gun. Circulation. 2006;113:920-2.
2. Bendouah Z, Barbeau J, Hamad WA. Desrosiers M Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with an unfavorable evolution after surgery for chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis. Otolaryngol – Head Neck Surgery. 2006;134:991-6.
3. Saiman L. Microbiology of early CF lung disease. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. 2004;5 Suppl A:S367-9.
4. Elkin S, Geddes D. Pseudomonal infection in cystic fibrosis: the battle continues. Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy. 2003;1:609-18.
5. Mohamed JA, Huang DB. Biofilm formation by enterococci. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2007;56:1581-8.
6. Hall-Stoodley L, Hu FZ, Gieseke A, Nistico L, Nguyen D, Hayes J, Forbes M, Greenberg DP, Dice B, Burrows A, Wackym PA, Stoodley P, Post JC, Ehrlich GD, Kerschner JE. Direct detection of bacterial biofilms on the middle-ear mucosa of children with chronic otitis media. JAMA. 2006;296:202-11.
7. Parsek MR, Singh PK. Bacterial biofilms: an emerging link to disease pathogenesis. Annual Review of Microbiology. 2003;57:677-701.
8. Ristow P, Bourhy P, Kerneis S, Schmitt C, Prevost MC, Lilenbaum W, Picardeau M. Biofilm formation by saprophytic and pathogenic leptospires. Microbiology. 2008;154:1309-17.
9. Sedghizadeh PP, Kumar SK, Gorur A, Schaudinn C, Shuler CF, Costerton JW. Microbial biofilms in osteomyelitis of the jaw and osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy. The Journal of the American Dental Association. 2009;140:1259-65.
10 Trampuz A, Piper KE, Jacobson MJ, Hanssen AD, Unni KK, Osmon DR, Mandrekar JN, Cockerill FR, Steckelberg JM, Greenleaf JF, Patel R. Sonication of removed hip and knee prostheses for diagnosis of infection. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:654-63.
11. Clutterbuck AL, Woods EJ, Knottenbelt DC, Clegg PD, Cochrane CA, Percival SL. Biofilms and their relevance to veterinary medicine. Veterinary Microbiology. 2007;121:1-17.
Additional References:
Brockhurst MA, Hochberg ME, Bell T, Buckling A. Character displacement promotes cooperation in bacterial biofilms. Current Biology. 2006;16:2030-4.
Cogan NG, Cortez R, Fauci L. Modeling physiological resistance in bacterial biofilms. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 2005;67:831-53.
Costerton JW, Stewart PS, Greenberg EP. Bacterial biofilms: a common cause of persistent infections. Science. 1999;284:1318-22.
Dean SN, Bishop BM, van Hoek ML. Natural and synthetic cathelicidin peptides with anti-microbial and anti-biofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus. BMC Microbiology. 2011;11:114.
Epstein SS. Microbial awakenings. Nature. 2009;457:1083.
Fu Y, Zhu M, Xing J. Resonant activation: a strategy against bacterial persistence. Physical Biology. 2010;7:16013.
Hall-Stoodley L, Costerton JW, Stoodley P. Bacterial biofilms: from the natural environment to infectious diseases. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2004;2:95-108.
Higgins DA, Pomianek ME, Kraml CM, Taylor RK, Semmelhack MF, Bassler BL. The major Vibrio cholerae autoinducer and its role in virulence factor production. Nature. 2007;450:883-6.
James GA, Swogger E, Wolcott R, Pulcini E, Secor P, Sestrich J, Costerton JW, Stewart PS. Biofilms in chronic wounds. Wound Repair and Regeneration. 2008;16:37-44.
Kirov SM, Webb JS, Kjelleberg S. Clinical significance of seeding dispersal in biofilms. Microbiology. 2005;151:3452-3; discussion 3453.
Lewis K. Riddle of biofilm resistance. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2001;45:999-1007.
Lewis K. Persister cells, dormancy and infectious disease. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2007;5:48-56.
Lee HH, Molla MN, Cantor CR, Collins JJ. Bacterial charity work leads to population-wide resistance. Nature. 2010;467:82-5.
Nadell CD, Xavier JB, Foster KR. The sociobiology of biofilms. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 2009;33:206-24.
Oliver JD. Recent findings on the viable but nonculturable state in pathogenic bacteria. FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 2010;34:415-25.
Ott SJ, El Mokhtari NE, Musfeldt M, Hellmig S, Freitag S, Rehman A, Kühbacher T, Nikolaus S, Namsolleck P, Blaut M, Hampe J, Sahly H, Reinecke A, Haake N, Günther R, Krüger D, Lins M, Herrmann G, Fölsch UR, Simon R, Schreiber S. Detection of diverse bacterial signatures in atherosclerotic lesions of patients with coronary heart disease. Circulation. 2006;113:929-37.
Sauer K, Camper AK, Ehrlich GD, Costerton JW, Davies DG. Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays multiple phenotypes during development as a biofilm. Journal of Bacteriology. 2002;184:1140-54.
Singh PK, Schaefer AL, Parsek MR, Moninger TO, Welsh MJ, Greenberg EP. Quorum-sensing signals indicate that cystic fibrosis lungs are infected with bacterial biofilms. Nature. 2000;407:762-4.
Wingender J, Flemming HC. Biofilms in drinking water and their role as reservoir for pathogens. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. 2011.
Wolcott RD, Kennedy JP, Dowd SE. Regular debridement is the main tool for maintaining a healthy wound bed in most chronic wounds. Journal of Wound Care. 2009;18:54-6.