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Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is a common surfactant used in various hygienic products. Its interactions with bacteria were studied previously, but the three-way interaction between surfactants, bacteria, and dissolved salts in the context of bacterial adhesion has not been studied. Here, we examined...

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Autores principales: Shteindel, Nimrod, Silberbush, Alon, Gerchman, Yoram
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Society for Microbiology 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10433808/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37409938
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01011-23
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author Shteindel, Nimrod
Silberbush, Alon
Gerchman, Yoram
author_facet Shteindel, Nimrod
Silberbush, Alon
Gerchman, Yoram
author_sort Shteindel, Nimrod
collection PubMed
description Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is a common surfactant used in various hygienic products. Its interactions with bacteria were studied previously, but the three-way interaction between surfactants, bacteria, and dissolved salts in the context of bacterial adhesion has not been studied. Here, we examined the combined effects of SDS (at concentrations typical of everyday hygienic activities) and salts, sodium chloride, and calcium chloride (at concentrations typically found in tap water) on the adhesion behavior of the common opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that bacterial adhesion in the absence of SDS was dependent on the cation concentration rather than the total ionic strength and that combined treatment with several millimolar NaCl and SDS can increase bacterial adhesion. The addition of low concentrations of SDS (2 mM) to tens to hundreds millimolar concentrations of NaCl, typical of systems that suffer seawater incursion, reduced bacterial adhesion dramatically. Combined treatment with Ca(+2) (in concentrations typical of those found in hard water) and SDS produced a small increase in total adhesion but a dramatic increase in the strength of adhesion. We conclude that the type and concentration of salts in water can have a considerable effect on the efficacy of soap in reducing bacterial adhesion and should be taken under consideration in critical applications. IMPORTANCE Surface-adhering bacteria are a reoccurring problem in many settings, including households, municipal water systems, food production facilities, and hospitals. Surfactants, and specifically sodium dodecyl sulfate (also known as SDS/SLS), are commonly used to remove bacterial contamination, but data regarding the interaction of SDS with bacteria and especially the effects of water-dissolved salts on this interaction are lacking. Here, we show that calcium and sodium ions can dramatically affect the efficacy of SDS on bacterial adhesion behavior and conclude that salt concentrations and ion species in the water supply should be considered in SDS applications.
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spelling pubmed-104338082023-08-18 Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria Shteindel, Nimrod Silberbush, Alon Gerchman, Yoram Microbiol Spectr Research Article Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is a common surfactant used in various hygienic products. Its interactions with bacteria were studied previously, but the three-way interaction between surfactants, bacteria, and dissolved salts in the context of bacterial adhesion has not been studied. Here, we examined the combined effects of SDS (at concentrations typical of everyday hygienic activities) and salts, sodium chloride, and calcium chloride (at concentrations typically found in tap water) on the adhesion behavior of the common opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We found that bacterial adhesion in the absence of SDS was dependent on the cation concentration rather than the total ionic strength and that combined treatment with several millimolar NaCl and SDS can increase bacterial adhesion. The addition of low concentrations of SDS (2 mM) to tens to hundreds millimolar concentrations of NaCl, typical of systems that suffer seawater incursion, reduced bacterial adhesion dramatically. Combined treatment with Ca(+2) (in concentrations typical of those found in hard water) and SDS produced a small increase in total adhesion but a dramatic increase in the strength of adhesion. We conclude that the type and concentration of salts in water can have a considerable effect on the efficacy of soap in reducing bacterial adhesion and should be taken under consideration in critical applications. IMPORTANCE Surface-adhering bacteria are a reoccurring problem in many settings, including households, municipal water systems, food production facilities, and hospitals. Surfactants, and specifically sodium dodecyl sulfate (also known as SDS/SLS), are commonly used to remove bacterial contamination, but data regarding the interaction of SDS with bacteria and especially the effects of water-dissolved salts on this interaction are lacking. Here, we show that calcium and sodium ions can dramatically affect the efficacy of SDS on bacterial adhesion behavior and conclude that salt concentrations and ion species in the water supply should be considered in SDS applications. American Society for Microbiology 2023-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC10433808/ /pubmed/37409938 http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01011-23 Text en Copyright © 2023 Shteindel et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Research Article
Shteindel, Nimrod
Silberbush, Alon
Gerchman, Yoram
Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title_full Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title_fullStr Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title_short Effect of Drinking Water Salt Content on the Interaction between Surfactants and Bacteria
title_sort effect of drinking water salt content on the interaction between surfactants and bacteria
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10433808/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37409938
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01011-23
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