Cranberry juice cocktail and proanthocyanidin effects on Escherichia coli biofilm formation: Inhibition of urinary tract infections

CHED 805

Kerrie Holguin, kholguin@andrew.cmu.edu1, Paola A. Pinzon-Arango, ppinzon@wpi.edu2, and Terri A. Camesano, terric@wpi.edu1. (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, (2) Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA 01609
Urinary tract infections are caused by bacterial adhesion to uroepithelial cells in the form of biofilms. To determine the effects of cranberry juice cocktail and its subcomponent, proanthocyanidins, on bacterial adhesion for the prevention of UTIs, we used a wild-type E. coli HB101 strain and a mutant E. coli HB101pDC1 strain. A 10 wt% CJC solution and 10 wt% proanthocyanidin solution were created and biofilm formation was implemented on a PVC plate. Crystal violet staining determined the amount of biofilm formation, and measurements were taken at various time increments and multiple exposures. The 10 wt% CJC solution produced no biofilm formation for either strain. The 10 wt% proanthocyanidins solution produced no biofilm formation for the HB101 strain; however HB101pDC1 did. There was generally a decreasing trend in biofilm formation with increasing number of exposures. Proanthocyanidins might not be the only compound in CJC that limits bacterial adhesion.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Biochemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008