PNNL

Abstract

We developed a porcine dermal explant model to determine the extent that S. aureus biofilm communities deplete oxygen, change pH and produce damage in underlying tissue. Microelectrode measurements demonstrated that dissolved oxygen (DO) in biofilm-free dermal tissue was 4.45 ± 1.17 mg/L while DO levels for biofilm-infected tissue declined sharply from the surface with no measurable oxygen detectable in the underlying dermal tissue. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that biofilm-free dermal tissue had a significantly lower relative effective diffusion coefficient (0.26 ± 0.09 to 0.30 ± 0.12) compared to biofilm-infected dermal tissue (0.40 ± 0.12 to 0.48 ± 0.12; P