Biosensors and Point-of-Care Devices for Bacterial Detection: Rapid Diagnostics Informing Antibiotic Therapy.

With an exponential rise in antimicrobial resistance and stagnant antibiotic development pipeline, there is, more than ever, a crucial need to optimize current infection therapy approaches. One of the most important stages in this process requires rapid and effective identification of pathogenic bacteria responsible for diseases. Current gold standard techniques of bacterial detection include culture methods, polymerase chain reactions, and immunoassays. However, their use is fraught with downsides with high turnaround time and low accuracy being the most prominent. This imposes great limitations on their eventual application as point-of-care devices. Over time, innovative detection techniques have been proposed and developed to curb these drawbacks. In this review, a systematic summary of a range of biosensing platforms is provided with a strong focus on technologies conferring high detection sensitivity and specificity. A thorough analysis is performed and the benefits and drawbacks of each type of biosensor are highlighted, the factors influencing their potential as point-of-care devices are discussed, and the authors' insights for their translation from proof-of-concept systems into commercial medical devices are provided.

Photosensitizer doped zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanocomposites for combined antibacterial therapy to overcome methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Antibiotics have played an important role in the treatment of bacteria related infections. However, the rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and limited number of antibiotics available is a great challenge to humankind. To address this problem, we are proposing a photosensitizer-modified biodegradable zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanocomposite that can kill not only Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, but also methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with high efficacy. In vivo testing revealed that these nanocomposites are highly effective for in vivo wound disinfection with minimal side-effects. In conclusion, this photosensitizer-modified biodegradable nanocomposite could be very promising for a synergistic antibacterial therapy to overcome MRSA.

Synthesis of photo-excited Chlorin e6 conjugated silica nanoparticles for enhanced anti-bacterial efficiency to overcome methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Multidrug resistant bacterial infection remains a significant public concern. In this report, photosensitizer Chlorin e6 doped silica was synthesized. This hybrid structure exhibits enhanced photostability and high antibacterial efficiency towards Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). In summary, this work demonstrates an effective platform to improve the efficiency of antibiotics for better treatment of wound infections.