According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one-third of the world's population is currently infected with tuberculosis bacteria. The bacteria is incredibly resistant to treatment, and despite its prevalence, very little is known about why it is so stress tolerant. But, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have been developing a new way of culturing tuberculosis bacteria, which could lead to new insights and treatments.
"This is a significant step forward in TB research," says paper-author Dr. Anil Ojha, "because it shows in a very reproducible way how to culture biofilms."
Though Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been cultured before, it is difficult to culture the bacteria in the biofilms organized, multicellular structures that give the bacteria its extraordinary resilience against environmental stresses and antibiotics. A tuberculosis biofilm can tolerate more than 50 times the minimal therapeutic dose of anti-tuberculosis drugs.
"M. Tuberculosis is difficult to treat," says Ojha. "It takes six to nine months of chemotherapy and after two months, most patients convert to culture-negative and smear-negative, though there is still bacteria there, and if you end treatment, the patient will have a relapse."
It is not known whether or not tuberculosis forms biofilms in the host, and whether that is the reason the microbes are so resistant to treatment, but according to Ojha, certain niches in the body have similar conditions to those that are required to culture biofilms in the lab.
The next step for the lab is to determine whether tuberculosis forms biofilms in its hosts, and to understand the genetic factors involved in biofilm formation. If tuberculosis does form biofilms in patients, understanding the genetics of biofilm formation could ultimately lead to more effective treatments for tuberculosis.
The article will be published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), the world's only peer reviewed, PubMed-indexed science video journal to publish all of its content in both text and video format.
"Words are words and it's very easy to miss out some details that you get from the visual," says Ojha about why he chose to publish in JoVE. "This way, the procedure is visual."
CDC Urges Vigilance: New Recommendations for Monitoring and Testing H5N1 Exposures
July 11th 2025With avian influenza A(H5N1) infections surfacing in both animals and humans, the CDC has issued updated guidance calling for aggressive monitoring and targeted testing to contain the virus and protect public health.
IP LifeLine: Layoffs and the Evolving Job Market Landscape for Infection Preventionists
July 11th 2025Infection preventionists, once hailed as indispensable during the pandemic, now face a sobering reality: budget pressures, hiring freezes, and layoffs are reshaping the field, leaving many IPs worried about their future and questioning their value within health care organizations.
A Helping Hand: Innovative Approaches to Expanding Hand Hygiene Programs in Acute Care Settings
July 9th 2025Who knew candy, UV lights, and a college kid in scrubs could double hand hygiene adherence? A Pennsylvania hospital’s creative shake-up of its infection prevention program shows that sometimes it takes more than soap to get hands clean—and keep them that way.