Cold atmospheric plasma and plasma-treated saline in the inactivation of <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> biofilms: structural and physicochemical insights from multimodal analyses
BIOFOULING, cilt.42, sa.5, ss.554-570, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 42 Sayı: 5
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/08927014.2026.2663011
- Dergi Adı: BIOFOULING
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, EMBASE, Environment Index, Geobase, MEDLINE, Zoological Record
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.554-570
- Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Staphylococcus aureus biofilms pose significant challenges in medical and industrial settings by exhibiting high resistance to conventional treatments. Although cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) shows promise as an antibacterial agent, the mechanisms of interaction with bacteria, particu-larly in saline environments, remain poorly understood. S. aureus biofilms were exposed to Argon CAP, and morphological and metabolic changes were evaluated using confocal laser scanning microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and XTT fluorescence. Planktonic cells were further examined by transmission electron microscopy. The findings revealed significant biofilm disrup-tion with 94% metabolic inactivation after 300s. To distinguish direct plasma effects, plasma- treated saline was tested and demonstrated to inactivate within 30 min. Optical emission spec-troscopy detected intense Na emission (589nm) during plasma-saline interactions; however, this observation is reported as a spectral feature rather than a mechanistic conclusion, and further experiments are required to clarify its potential relevance.