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Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions
BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial commonly used to disinfect the skin of patients to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. Because chlorhexidine is not sporicidal, it is not anticipated that it would have an impact on skin contamination with Clostridium diffi...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2015
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393272/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25861057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123809 |
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author | Nerandzic, Michelle M. Donskey, Curtis J. |
author_facet | Nerandzic, Michelle M. Donskey, Curtis J. |
author_sort | Nerandzic, Michelle M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial commonly used to disinfect the skin of patients to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. Because chlorhexidine is not sporicidal, it is not anticipated that it would have an impact on skin contamination with Clostridium difficile, the most important cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. However, although chlorhexidine is not sporicidal as it is used in healthcare settings, it has been reported to kill spores of Bacillus species under altered physical and chemical conditions that disrupt the spore’s protective barriers (e.g., heat, ultrasonication, alcohol, or elevated pH). Here, we tested the hypothesis that similarly altered physical and chemical conditions result in enhanced sporicidal activity of chlorhexidine against C. difficile spores. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: C. difficile spores became susceptible to heat killing at 80°C within 15 minutes in the presence of chlorhexidine, as opposed to spores suspended in water which remained viable. The extent to which the spores were reduced was directly proportional to the concentration of chlorhexidine in solution, with no viable spores recovered after 15 minutes of incubation in 0.04%–0.0004% w/v chlorhexidine solutions at 80°C. Reduction of spores exposed to 4% w/v chlorhexidine solutions at moderate temperatures (37°C and 55°C) was enhanced by the presence of 70% ethanol. However, complete elimination of spores was not achieved until 3 hours of incubation at 55°C. Elevating the pH to ≥9.5 significantly enhanced the killing of spores in either aqueous or alcoholic chlorhexidine solutions. CONCLUSIONS: Physical and chemical conditions that alter the protective barriers of C. difficile spores convey sporicidal activity to chlorhexidine. Further studies are necessary to identify additional agents that may allow chlorhexidine to reach its target within the spore. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4393272 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-43932722015-04-21 Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions Nerandzic, Michelle M. Donskey, Curtis J. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial commonly used to disinfect the skin of patients to reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. Because chlorhexidine is not sporicidal, it is not anticipated that it would have an impact on skin contamination with Clostridium difficile, the most important cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. However, although chlorhexidine is not sporicidal as it is used in healthcare settings, it has been reported to kill spores of Bacillus species under altered physical and chemical conditions that disrupt the spore’s protective barriers (e.g., heat, ultrasonication, alcohol, or elevated pH). Here, we tested the hypothesis that similarly altered physical and chemical conditions result in enhanced sporicidal activity of chlorhexidine against C. difficile spores. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: C. difficile spores became susceptible to heat killing at 80°C within 15 minutes in the presence of chlorhexidine, as opposed to spores suspended in water which remained viable. The extent to which the spores were reduced was directly proportional to the concentration of chlorhexidine in solution, with no viable spores recovered after 15 minutes of incubation in 0.04%–0.0004% w/v chlorhexidine solutions at 80°C. Reduction of spores exposed to 4% w/v chlorhexidine solutions at moderate temperatures (37°C and 55°C) was enhanced by the presence of 70% ethanol. However, complete elimination of spores was not achieved until 3 hours of incubation at 55°C. Elevating the pH to ≥9.5 significantly enhanced the killing of spores in either aqueous or alcoholic chlorhexidine solutions. CONCLUSIONS: Physical and chemical conditions that alter the protective barriers of C. difficile spores convey sporicidal activity to chlorhexidine. Further studies are necessary to identify additional agents that may allow chlorhexidine to reach its target within the spore. Public Library of Science 2015-04-10 /pmc/articles/PMC4393272/ /pubmed/25861057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123809 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Nerandzic, Michelle M. Donskey, Curtis J. Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title | Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title_full | Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title_fullStr | Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title_full_unstemmed | Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title_short | Induced Sporicidal Activity of Chlorhexidine against Clostridium difficile Spores under Altered Physical and Chemical Conditions |
title_sort | induced sporicidal activity of chlorhexidine against clostridium difficile spores under altered physical and chemical conditions |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393272/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25861057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123809 |
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