ArticleJournal of industrial microbiology1995
The effect of electrical currents and tobramycin on Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.
Article in Journal of industrial microbiology, 1995. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial Tolerance in Biofilms.Microbiology spectrum · 2015Pooled it
- Bioelectric effect and bacterial biofilms. A systematic review.The International journal of artificial organs · 2008Pooled it
- A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Fabric-Based Wireless Electroceutical Dressing Compared to Standard-of-Care Treatment Against Acute Trauma and Burn Wound Biofilm Infection.Advances in wound care · 2024Trial
- Antibacterial Effect of Combined Electrolytic and Chemical Decontamination Methods on Dental Implant Surfaces: In Vitro Study.Clinical oral implants research · 2025Article
- Developing Lotka-Volterra Based Models to Describe Bdellovibrio Predation in a Batch and Chemostat Experimental System.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Article
- On the effectiveness of electrical characterization of mature Staphylococcal Biofilm.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Highly Efficacious Electrical Biofilm Treatment System for Combating Chronic Wound Bacterial Infections.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2023Article
- AnApplied and environmental microbiology · 2020Article
- Electrochemical methods to enhance osseointegrated prostheses.Biomedical engineering letters · 2020Review
- Article
- Selective Inactivation ofAdvances in wound care · 2019Article
- Effect of electric currents on antibacterial effect of chlorhexidine againstJournal of clinical and experimental dentistry · 2018Article
- Application of Rotating Magnetic Fields Increase the Activity of Antimicrobials Against Wound Biofilm Pathogens.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Effect of electrical energy on the efficacy of biofilm treatment using the bioelectric effect.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2015Article
- Revealing a world of biofilms--the pioneering research of Bill Costerton.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2014Article
- Continuous drip flow system to develop biofilm of E. faecalis under anaerobic conditions.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2014Article
- Article
- Differential Gene Expression to Investigate the Effects of Low-level Electrochemical Currents on Bacillus subtilis.AMB Express · 2011Article
- Novel composites materials from functionalized polymers and silver coated titanium oxide capable for calcium phosphate induction, control of orthopedic biofilm infections: an "in vitro" study.Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine · 2010Article
- Effect of electrical current on the activities of antimicrobial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The combined use of antibiotics with low levels of electrical current has been reported to be more effective in controlling biofilms (the bioelectric effect) than antibiotics alone. An electrical colonisation cell was designed to study the effect of antibiotics on biofilms formed on a dialysis membrane away from the electrode surface. To avoid the electrochemical generation of toxic products, Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms were formed in minimal salts medium that excluded chloride-containing compounds. Under these conditions, electrical currents of up to 20 mA cm-2 did not prevent biofilm formation or have any detrimental effect on an established biofilm. Tobramycin alone at concentrations of 10 micrograms ml-1 did not affect the biofilm, but were significantly enhanced by 9 mA cm-2. The effect of tobramycin concentrations of 25 micrograms ml-1 were enhanced by a 15 mA cm-2 electrical current. In both cases higher levels of electrical current, up to 20 mA cm-2, did not further enhance the effect of the antibiotic. The possible mechanisms of action of the bioelectric effect have been reported to involve electrophoresis, iontophoresis and electroporesis, thus overcoming the biofilm biomass and cell wall barriers. Our results suggest that other factors may also be important, such as the metabolic activity and growth rate of the bacteria. Such factors may be critical in maximising antibiotic efficacy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.