Biomedical subjects

H C Van Der Mei

Publications and source records attributed to H C Van Der Mei.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Pathogenesis and prevention of biomaterial centered infections.

One of the major drawbacks in the use of biomedical materials is the occurrence of biomaterials centered infections. After implantation, the host interacts with a biomaterial by forming a conditioning film on its surface and an immune reaction towards the foreign material. When microorganisms can reach the biomaterials surface they can adhere to it. Adhesion of microorganisms to an implant is mediated by their physico-chemical surface properties and the properties of the biomaterials surface itself. Subsequent surface growth of the microorganisms will lead to a mature biofilm and infection, which is difficult to eradicate by antibiotics. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the mechanisms involved in biomaterials centered infection and the possible methods to prevent these infections.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Late hematogenous infection of subcutaneous implants in rats.

Late biomaterial-centered infection is a major complication associated with the use of biomaterial implants. In this study biomaterials that had been implanted subcutaneously in rats were hematogenously challenged with bacteria 4 weeks after implantation. Bacteria were spread either by intravenous injection or by stimulation of bacterial translocation. It was found that none of the biomaterials was infected by hematogenous spread, whereas 5% of the implants were infected by perioperative contamination. We conclude that late hematogenous infection of subcutaneous biomaterials does not occur in the rat. For humans as well, there are growing doubts whether implants actually become infected through hematogenous routes; it is thought that late infections may be caused by delayed appearance of perioperatively introduced bacteria.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Dot assay for determining adhesive interactions between yeasts and bacteria under controlled hydrodynamic conditions.

Candida belongs to the normal human microflora and are found adhering to a number of human body tissues as well as to a variety of biomaterials implants. Often, yeasts adhere in association with bacteria, but to date there is no definitive assay to investigate adhesive interactions between yeasts and bacteria adhering on surfaces. Although we recently described the use of a parallel plate flow chamber to this purpose [Millsap, K.W., Bos, R., Van der Mei, H. C., Busscher, H.J., 1998. Adhesive interactions between medically important yeasts and bacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 21, 321-336], the method was slow and evaluation of a large number of strains showed major biological variation between experiments. Here, we describe a new assay for the simultaneous determination of the adhesive interactions between yeasts and different bacterial strains on a surface under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. On an acrylic surface, the presence of adhering bacteria suppressed adhesion of Candida albicans ATCC 10261 to various degrees, depending on the bacterial strain involved. Suppression of C. albicans ATCC 10261 adhesion was strongest by Actinomyces naeslundii T14V-J1, while adhering Streptococcus gordonii NCTC 7869 caused the weakest suppression of yeast adhesion. When adhering yeasts and bacteria were challenged with the high detachment force of a passing liquid-air interface, the majority of the yeasts detached, while C. albicans adhering on the control, bare polymethylmethacrylate surface formed aggregates. Summarizing, this study presents a new method to determine suggested adhesive interactions between yeasts and adhering bacteria under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. However, the results seem to indicate that these adhesive interactions may well not exist, but that instead different bacterial strains have varying abilities to discourage yeast adhesion.

Actinomyces↗

PubMed2000

Preliminary observations on influence of dairy products on biofilm removal from silicone rubber voice prostheses in vitro.

We determined oropharyngeal biofilm removal from silicone rubber voice prostheses in an artificial throat after perfusion with different commercially available dairy products, including buttermilk, Lactobacillus casei Shirota fermented milk (Yakult, Yakult Netherlands BV, Almere, The Netherlands), low-fat milk, and three types of yogurt. Buttermilk removed both yeasts and bacteria from biofilms on voice prostheses, but this was not observed with a pasteurized buttermilk product. Some of the other products, most notably Yakult fermented milk drink, reduced the number of bacteria, whereas growth of yeasts in the biofilms was not inhibited. This study demonstrates that there may be health benefits associated with the consumption of certain dairy products when applied to the upper digestive tract.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Initial adhesion and surface growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on negatively and positively charged poly(methacrylates).

The infection risk of biomaterial implants is determined by an interplay of bacterial adhesion and surface growth of the adhering organisms. In this study, we compared initial adhesion and surface growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa AK1 (zeta potential -7 mV) on negatively charged (PMMA/MAA, zeta potential -18 mV) and positively charged (PMMA/TMAEMA-Cl, zeta-potential +12 mV) methacrylate copolymers in situ in a parallel plate flow chamber. Initial adhesion was measured using phosphate-buffered saline and subsequent surface growth of the adhering bacteria using nutrient broth as growth medium. Initial adhesion was twice as fast on the positively charged methacrylate than on the negatively charged copolymer. Surface growth, however, was absent on the positively charged copolymer, while on the negatively charged methacrylate the number of bacteria increased exponentially during surface growth with a generation time of 32 min. From the results of this study it can be concluded that positively charged biomaterial surfaces might show reduced risks of biomaterials-centred infections, despite being more adhesive.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1990

Surface free energies and elemental surface compositions of human enamel after application of commercially available mouthrinses and adsorption of salivary constituents.

The adsorption of active agents from six commercially available mouthrinses to ground and polished enamel, with and without adsorbed salivary constituents, was monitored by contact angle measurements and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Human enamel samples were treated with mouthrinses containing chlorhexidine (Peridex), stannous fluoride/amine fluoride (Meridol), thymol/benzoic acid (Listerine), sanguinarine (Veadent), sodium fluoride (Prodent), or cetylpyridinium chloride (Merocet). XPS indicated a sizeable adsorption of both active and non-active components for all products. After treatment, all enamel surface free energies increased except for the stannous fluoride/amine fluoride containing mouthrinse. It is suggested that non-active components in the products cause an increase in surface free energy. Despite this thermodynamically unfavorable increase in surface free energy, all rinses have plaque reducing effects, indicating that this unfavorable surface characteristic is overruled by the antibacterial properties of the components. Replacement of non-active components by less adsorbing surfactants could increase the efficiency of the products tested.

Adsorption↗