COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR THE DETECTION OF BIOFILM FORMATION BY ENTEROCOCCUS FAECIUM ISOLATED FROM HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS

Background and Aim:Enterococcus faecium is nosocomial pathogen that can form biofilms, which being increasingly associated with urinary tract infections, endocarditis, catheter-related infections, surgical wound infections, and central nervous system infections. The objective of this study was to comparison two techniques for the detection of biofilm formation in E. faecium strains.Methods:A total 29 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium were collected from hospitalized patients in a hospital in Ahvaz. Biochemical and molecular techniques were used to identify VREfm strains. The ability of biofilm formation was determined by Tissue Culture Plate (TCP) and Congo Red Agar (CRA) methods.Results:The results revealed that 75.7% of the isolates tested produced biofilm on the CRA, 82.7% of the isolates produced biofilm in vitro by TCP. In TCP method, 13.7% of the isolates formed strong and 17.2% formed weak biofilm. According to the CRA method 27.5% of the isolates formed strong biofilm, 17.2% had a weak biofilm.Conclusion:According to the results the difference in biofilm formation in each method can be affect by various factors such as concentration of nutrients, laboratory techniques and solutions used.

Keywords:

Tissue culture plate , Congo red agar , Biofilms , Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium