A highly sensitive alamarBlue® method for evaluating bacterial adhesion to biomaterials

Abstract

It is known that biofilm formed on the denture surface (denture plaque) causes various oral diseases and the aspiration pneumonia. For prevention of these diseases, new denture materials that inhibit or reduce the formation of denture plaque are strongly required. In order to develop these materials, it is essential to evaluate the bacterial adhesion to material surfaces. Thus, we established a new non-radioisotopic method for evaluating the adhesion of bacteria, using. alamar- Blue®, a fluorescent reduction-oxidation indicator, that responds quantitatively to the bacterial metabolic activity. Furthermore, we enhanced the sensitivity of the method by adding bacterial metabolic substrates to the reaction mixture. It is suggested that the simple and precise quantification of bacterial adhesion to material surfaces becomes possible by this improved alamarBlue® method.