Atmospheric-pressure plasma jet against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biomedical researchers at Pennsylvania State University report: “We investigated the efficacy of LTP [i.e. low temperature plasma, a high energy gas] treatments against bacteria using an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet and show that LTP treatments have the ability to inhibit both gram-positive (S. aureus) and gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria on solid and porous surfaces. Additionally, both direct LTP treatment and plasma-activated media were effective against the bacteria suspended in liquid culture. Our data indicate that reactive oxygen species are the key mediators of the bactericidal effects of LTP and hydrogen peroxide is necessary but not sufficient for antibacterial effects. In addition, our data suggests that bacteria exposed to LTP do not develop resistance to further treatment with LTP. These findings suggest that this novel atmospheric-pressure plasma jet could be used as a potential alternative to antibiotic treatments in vivo.”  MORE

Image Credit:  Sean Knecht and Penn State News