Morphological appearance, physicochemical characteristics, and in vitro susceptibility to antifungal drugs of Candida albicans biofilm formed on polyvinyl chloride endotracheal and silicone nasogastric tubes

The study determined the morphological appearance, physicochemical characteristics, and susceptibility profile of Candida albicans biofilms on polyvinyl chloride endotracheal tube (ETT) and silicone nasogastric tube (NGT). Morphology of C. albicans biofilms revealed morphogenesis of planktonic cells to hyphal forms surrounded by an extracellular matrix over different monitoring times. The planktonic cells were found to be susceptible to fluconazole, miconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole. Moreover, biofilms formed on both ETT and NGT remained susceptible to fluconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole but was found to be resistant to miconazole, with significant reduction in the zone of inhibition diameter across monitoring times. In addition, spectral profile assessment via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and attenuated transform infrared-FTIR revealed the frequency of specific functional groups associated with the biofilms on both devices. Specific absorbances of O-H, C-H, C=O, C-N, and C-C stretching were revealed by FTIR as prominent peaks observed in C. albicans biofilm on polyvinyl ETT. Silicone NGT exhibited similar results except for the presence of C-N functional group. Similarly, variations of C-H, C=O, and C-C stretching were also identified by ATR-FTIR on both materials. Data obtained from the present study can provide additional information on the biofilm formation of C. albicans on polyvinyl chloride ETT and silicone NGT. The findings of the present study can provide information to further elucidate the resistance mechanism of the organism which can be used in future studies as new insights in the development of new drugs and surface modification of medical devices