Analysis of biofilm formation capacity and virulence factors of strains of Enterococcus faecalis isolated from teeth associated with failure of endodontic treatment

• Grant number: 17/26973-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Endodontics
• Principal Investigator: Brenda Paula Figueiredo de Almeida Gomes
• Grantee: João Carlos Leme Junior
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba (FOP). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/23479-5 - Microbiomes and immunobiological aspects in endodontic infections, AP.TEM

Abstract

The cause of post-treatment endodontic disease is essentially a bacterial infection. Enterococcus faecalis is a bacteria frequently isolated from root canals in cases of failure of endodontic treatment and are able to adhere the walls of root canals, gutta-percha or endodontic sealers, allowing the formation of a resistant biofilm. In addition, this microorganism has virulence factors that may be important in the development of endodontic pathology and resistance of E. faecalis to antibiotics. The objectives of the present project are: a) to evaluate the capacity of biofilm formation of strains of E. faecalis isolated from cases of failure of the endodontic treatment; b) to verify the activity of the gelatinase and ²-lactamase of these same strains. Samples of 20 strains of Enterococcus faecalis previously collected and isolated by the culture method using m-Enterococcus selective medium will also be confirmed by PCR using E. faecalis primers. The biofilm formation will be performed in polystyrene microplates by the violet crystal staining method. For the verification of gelatinase activity an inoculum of a pure culture of the previously isolated strains will be deposited in tubes containing gelatin and a nutrient broth. The tubes are incubated for 72 hours at 24 °C and then refrigerated. In order to verify the action of ²-lactamase, ²-lactamase strips (Sigma Aldrich, St Louis, MO, USA) will be used for rapid acidimetric detection of the same activity of microorganisms. The collected data will be entered into a spreadsheet and statistically analyzed using SPSS for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, ILL, USA).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FRANCISCO, PRISCILA AMANDA; FAGUNDES, PEDRO IVO DA GRACA; LEMES-JUNIOR, JOAO CARLOS; LIMA, AUGUSTO RODRIGUES; PASSINI, MAICON RICARDO ZIEBERG; GOMES, BRENDA P. F. A.. Pathogenic potential of Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from root canals after unsuccessful endodontic treatment. CLINICAL ORAL INVESTIGATIONS, FEB 2021. (17/26973-6, 15/23479-5, 18/00587-5)

FRANCISCO, PRISCILA AMANDA; FAGUNDES, PEDRO IVO DA GRACA; LEMES-JUNIOR, JOAO CARLOS; LIMA, AUGUSTO RODRIGUES; PASSINI, MAICON RICARDO ZIEBERG; GOMES, BRENDA P. F. A.. Pathogenic potential of Enterococcus faecalis strains isolated from root canals after unsuccessful endodontic treatment. CLINICAL ORAL INVESTIGATIONS, v. 25, n. 9, p. 5171-5179, SEP 2021. (15/23479-5, 18/00587-5, 17/26973-6)