IMR Press / FBL / Volume 27 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2701022
Open Access Original Research
A novel, time-effective approach for capturing bacteria from contaminated urine samples
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1 R&D department, BatLab srl, 16043 Chiavari (GE), Italy
2 Mectron S.p.A., 16042 Carasco (GE), Italy
3 School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences - Division of Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 4320, USA
*Correspondence: vincenzoierardi@virgilio.it (Vincenzo Ierardi)
Academic Editors: Catarina M. Paquete and Josef Jampílek
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2022, 27(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2701022
Submitted: 11 November 2021 | Revised: 22 December 2021 | Accepted: 29 December 2021 | Published: 17 January 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: A fundamental step in the race to design a rapid diagnostic test for antimicrobial resistance is the separation of bacteria from their matrix. Many recent studies have been focused on the development of systems capable of separating and capturing bacteria from liquid environments. Methods: Herein, we introduce a new approach to this issue by using the natural bacteria tendency to accumulate at naturally-occurring interfaces, such as liquid-gas and liquid-solid interfaces, where also organic molecules like lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides accumulate. This bacterial behavior leads to the formation of a superficial layer close to the interface rich in bacteria, from which it is possible to capture a consistent amount of bacteria by means of surfaces with high chemical affinity to the outer bacteria surface. Results: This paper demonstrates how to capture bacteria from contaminated urine samples, by means of commercial microscope slides coated with positively charged biomolecules, without the utilization of the bacterial culture step for multiplying the bacteria. Conclusions: This approach is an easy, quick and economical method to concentrate living bacteria in a well-defined position onto a microscope slide, thus making them easily available for further diagnostic investigations.

Keywords
Urine
Bacteria
Capturing device
Bioactive surface
Bacteria adhesion
Figures
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