XXXX biofilms in the clinical setting.

@entity1 @entity852 @entity558 @entity19 @entity8319 @entity2381 @entity54 @entity204 @entity20585 @entity7787 @entity8371
We discuss in this work the role of @entity54 biofilms in the clinical setting by reviewing the most recent findings on this topic. @entity54 can produce in vitro an extracellular hydrophobic matrix with typical biofilm characteristics under all static conditions tested, i.e., agar media, @entity852 and bronchial epithelial cells. Under static conditions the mycelial growth is greater than in shaken, submerged conditions. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is composed of @entity8319 , a-1,3-glucans, @entity7787 and @entity8371 , melanin and proteins including major antigens and hydrophobins. Typical biofilm structures were observed in the aspergillomas from two @entity1 and in a @entity19 model of @entity20585 . The results indicate that a-1,3-glucans plays a predominant role in the agglutination of the hyphae together in aerial conditions, and that nutrient starvation was responsible for @entity204 in aspergilloma. Melanin was produced during the infection, suggesting that this pigment is necessary for lung tissue invasion. All antifungal drugs are significantly less effective when A. fumigatus is grown under biofilm vs. @entity558 . Chronic persistence of a unique genotype of A. fumigatus in the respiratory tract of CF- @entity1 and the presence of an ECM in vivo may have some therapeutical application for @entity2381 . The most appropriate antifungal drug should not be selected only on the basis of its efficiency to kill in vitro grown fungal cells, but also on its ability to penetrate the ECM.
