 |
|
USC School of Dentistry researchers uncover link between osteoporosis drugs and jaw infection
April 30, 2008Biofilms behind jaw deterioration
A group of University of Southern California School of Dentistry researchers says it has identified the slimy culprits killing the jawbones of some people taking drugs that treat osteoporosis.
Microbial biofilms, a mix of bacteria and sticky extracellular material, are causing jaw tissue infections in patients taking bisphosphonate drugs, said Parish Sedghizadeh, lead researcher and assistant clinical professor at the USC School of Dentistry.
Sold under brand names such as Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, bisphosphonates are prescribed to millions of patients to combat osteoporosis, a bone-wasting disease that increases the risk of fractures.
Sedghizadeh said there have been increasing reports of osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw in patients who have been taking the drugs for osteoporosis or for treatment from the bone-wasting effects of cancer. He said he decided to investigate further after seeing patients in USC dentistry clinics who had the unusual jaw infection.
"This is the first study that identifies microbial biofilms in the bone of bisphosphonate patients who have osteonecrosis of the jaw," Sedghizadeh said.
Jaw osteonecrosis occurs when bacteria-laden biofilms infect the jaw after the bone is exposed, typically because of a tooth extraction or injury.
The USC research team includes renowned biofilm expert J. William Costerton, director of the Center for Biofilms at the USC School of Dentistry.
Pioneered by Costerton, biofilm theory has moved scientists beyond thinking of bacteria as free-floating organisms. Instead, bacteria build biofilm communities, attaching to surfaces and communicating and defending against antimicrobial invaders.
The team used powerful scanning electron microscopes to study patients' jawbone samples. The images revealed biofilm bacteria sprawling over pitted tissue.
The scientists are now trying to determine why bisphosphonate drugs seem to open the door for biofilm-associated infections of the jaw.
"Now that we've know biofilms are behind the infection of the jaw, we are studying ways to effectively treat or prevent the osteonecrosis," Sedghizadeh said.
University of Southern California
Sold under brand names such as Fosamax, Boniva and Actonel, bisphosphonates are prescribed to millions of patients to combat osteoporosis, a bone-wasting disease that increases the risk of fractures.
Sedghizadeh said there have been increasing reports of osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw in patients who have been taking the drugs for osteoporosis or for treatment from the bone-wasting effects of cancer. He said he decided to investigate further after seeing patients in USC dentistry clinics who had the unusual jaw infection.
"This is the first study that identifies microbial biofilms in the bone of bisphosphonate patients who have osteonecrosis of the jaw," Sedghizadeh said.
Jaw osteonecrosis occurs when bacteria-laden biofilms infect the jaw after the bone is exposed, typically because of a tooth extraction or injury.
The USC research team includes renowned biofilm expert J. William Costerton, director of the Center for Biofilms at the USC School of Dentistry.
Pioneered by Costerton, biofilm theory has moved scientists beyond thinking of bacteria as free-floating organisms. Instead, bacteria build biofilm communities, attaching to surfaces and communicating and defending against antimicrobial invaders.
The team used powerful scanning electron microscopes to study patients' jawbone samples. The images revealed biofilm bacteria sprawling over pitted tissue.
The scientists are now trying to determine why bisphosphonate drugs seem to open the door for biofilm-associated infections of the jaw.
"Now that we've know biofilms are behind the infection of the jaw, we are studying ways to effectively treat or prevent the osteonecrosis," Sedghizadeh said.
University of Southern California
Biofilm Current Events and Biofilm News RSSUC San Diego Bioengineers Fill Holes in Science of Cellular Self-Organization
The chemical and biological aspects of cellular self-organization are well-studied; less well understood is how cell populations order themselves biomechanically - how their behavior and communication are affected by high density and physical proximity.
Bio-imaging mass spectrometry techniques reveal molecular details about complex systems
Understanding biology at the systems level is difficult, especially when studying complex specimens like tissue slices or communities of organisms in a biofilm. Scientists must be able to identify, quantify and locate the molecules present in the samples.
Rattlesnake-type poisons used by superbug bacteria to beat our defenses
Colonies of hospital superbugs can make poisons similar to those found in rattlesnake venom to attack our bodies' natural defences, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.
Milk may help bacteria survive against low levels of antibiotics
Milk may help prevent potentially dangerous bacteria like Staphylococcus from being killed by antibiotics used to treat animals, scientists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.
Living sensor can warn of arsenic pollution
Scientists studying arsenic pollution have discovered a living sensor that can spot contamination. They have also discovered new bacteria that can clean up arsenic spills even in previously untreatable cold areas, microbiologists heard today (Monday 8 September 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.
MSU biofilms research helps set standards for everyday products
Montana State University scientist Darla Goeres knows that there is more than one way to grow a biofilm, a fact that she uses to make sure that when a product claims it kills "99 percent" of bacteria, it really does the job.
Biofilms use chemical weapons
Bacteria rarely come as loners; more often they grow in crowds and squat on surfaces where they form a community together.
New Chlorine-Tolerant, Desalination Membrane Hopes to Boost Access to Clean Water
A chemical engineering professor at The University of Texas at Austin is part of a team that has developed a chlorine-tolerant membrane that should simplify the water desalination process, increasing access to fresh water and possibly reducing greenhouse gases.
Microscopic 'clutch' puts flagellum in neutral
A tiny but powerful engine that propels the bacterium Bacillus subtilis through liquids is disengaged from the corkscrew-like flagellum by a protein clutch, Indiana University Bloomington and Harvard University scientists have learned. Their report appears in this week's Science.
Researchers Identify Biofilms That Cause Infection
Understanding the way bacterial cells "talk" to each other could lead to more effective methods for fighting the often persistent and serious infections caused by the biofilms they form, says a Texas A&M University professor of chemical engineering who not only has deciphered their language but also discovered how to quell their conversation.
More Biofilm Current Events and Biofilm News Articles
 | The Biofilm Primer (Springer Series on Biofilms) by J. William Costerton This book details the widely accepted hypothesis that the majority of bacteria in virtually all ecosystems grow in matrix-enclosed biofilms. The author, who proposed this biofilm hypothesis, uses direct evidence from microscopy and from molecular techniques, presenting cogent reasons for moving beyond conventional culture methods that dominated microbiology throughout the last century. Bacteria... |
 | Microbial Biofilms by Mahmoud Ghannoum, George OToole |
 | Biofilms in Wastewater Treatment: An Interdisciplinary Approach (Water & Wastewater Practitioner Series: STOWA Report) The central theme of the book is the flow of information from experimental approaches in biofilm research to simulation and modeling of complex wastewater systems. Probably the greatest challenge in wastewater research lies in using the methods and the results obtained in one scientific discipline to design intelligent experiments in other disciplines, and eventually to improve the knowledge base... |
 | Medical Biofilms, Detection, Prevention and Control Biofilms are formed by microorganisms growing on surfaces and comprise a series of microcolonies interspersed with spaces through which fluids and other microorganisms move. In medicine, the primary problems are biofilms associated with implants: infections are increasingly difficult to treat with traditional antibiotics and removal of the implant often becomes essential, frequently leading to... |
 | Bacterial Biofilms (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology) Throughout the biological world, bacteria thrive predominantly in surface attached, matrix enclosed, multicellular communities or biofilms, as opposed to isolated planktonic cells. This choice of lifestyle is not trivial, as it involves major shifts in the use of genetic information and cellular energy, and has profound consequences for bacterial physiology and survival. Growth within a biofilm... |
 | Medical Implications of Biofilms Interest in biofilms has increased dramatically in recent years. New microscopic and molecular techniques have revolutionized our understanding of biofilm structure, composition, organization, and activities. This book brings advances in the prevention and treatment of biofilm-related diseases to the attention of clinicians and medical researchers. Human tissues often support complex microbial... |
 | Biofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy Providing general understanding of issues in antimicrobial research, Biofilms, Infection, and Antimicrobial Therapy supplies an excellent overview of the economic burden associated with treating biofilm-related infections. It includes a discussion of cutting-edge aspects in the area of antibacterial tolerance and resistance, describes animal models essential for identification of new effective... |
 | Control of Biofilm Infections by Signal Manipulation (Springer Series on Biofilms) The medical miracle of antibiotics is being eroded by the emergence and spread of bacterial drug resistance. This is compounded by the fact that bacterial biofilms are believed to be a common cause of persistent infections, when because growing in biofilms, bacteria are protected from the host’s immune response and from antibiotics. In addition, biofilms may spawn systemic infections by... |
 | Fossil and Recent Biofilms: A Natural History of Life on Earth This textbook on biofilms combines knowledge on sub-aquatic and sub-aerial biofilms and their products (stromatolites, oolites, ore, petroleum and gas deposits). It describes how formation and degradation of minerals and rocks is achieved through biofilm formation on and in sediments, soils and rocks. Methods of study, examples of Precambrian biofilms of an early Earth as well as the most recent... |
 | Biofilms: Recent Advances in their Study and Control Biofilms affect the lives of all of us, growing as they do for example on our teeth (as plaque), on catheters and medical implants in our bodies, on our boats and ships, in food processing environments, and in drinking and industrial water treatment systems. They are highly complex biological communities whose detailed structure and functioning is only gradually being unravelled, with the... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |