engleski

POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF AMPHIPHILIC CATIONIC PORPHYRIN ON LEGIONELLA

Legionella is an opportunistic premise plumbing pathogen that can be present in the municipal and other water supplies. The building water systems may provide conditions (such as optimal temperature, water hardness, low flow, low disinfectant residual levels etc.) that support Legionella growth to levels that may result in an increased risk to public health. Recent studies show that periodic overheating of water and chlorination as standard disinfection of water systems toward prevention of Legionnaires disease has often proved to be inefficient. The issue of the insufficiently effective disinfection methods leads to the necessity of further research about new methods, mainly due to the antimicrobial residence and formation of the biofilm. One of these methods is photodynamic inactivation or antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, which involves visible light of certain wave length, molecular oxygen (O 2 ) and a photosensitizer to generate reactive oxygen species. The aim of this work is to explore the mechanism of action and the potential application of the photodynamically active cationic amphiphilic porphyrin in water. As a model microorganisms we chose Legionella. In this study anti-Legionella porphyrin activity is tested, as well as the impact of Legionella adhesion to polystyrene, depending on the water hardness, and the impact on forming the biofilm. These studies indicate that tested porphyrin is highly efficient in photodynamic inactivation that results in reducing Legionella growth in different samples of water, and these results suggest that cationic amphiphilic photosensitizers may have a broader application in the photoinactivation of bacterial cells implicated in water disinfection.

disinfection, Legionella opportunistic premise plumbing pathogen, photodynamic inactivation, porphyrin.

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