TABLE 3.
Effects of incorporation of a low concentration (12.5 μM) of oxantel or metronidazole into the growth medium on P. gingivalis biofilm formation for an 18-h culture in a three-channel flow cell system
| Biofilm parameter | Mean result (% change relative to control)a |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Control | Metronidazole, 12.5 μM | Oxantel, 12.5 μM | |
| Biovolume (μm3/μm2) | 3.03 ± 0.56 | 2.19 ± 0.05b (−38) | 1.18 ± 0.31b,c (−52) |
| Avg thickness of biofilm (μm) | 3.26 ± 0.64 | 2.17 ± 0.66b (−41) | 0.76 ± 0.37b,c (−74) |
| Surface area/biovolume ratio (μm2/μm3) | 1.68 ± 0.32 | 1.63 ± 0.33 (−3) | 2.63 ± 0.16b,c (+57) |
| Surface area of substratum occupied by cells (%) | 32.0 ± 9.9 | 27.4 ± 13.8 (−14) | 27.0 ± 2.7 (−16) |
| Avg no. of microcoloniesd | 21.0 ± 5.2 | 23.7 ± 7.9 (+12) | 14.7 ± 0.5 (−30) |
| Avg microcolony area (μm2) | 168 ± 50 | 102 ± 37 (−39) | 118 ± 9 (−30) |
a
As determined using COMSTAT analysis of CLSM images. Data are expressed as means ± standard deviations of three biological replicates. The percent change compared with the control is shown in parentheses. The biometric data were statistically analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U Wilcoxon rank sum test with a Bonferroni correction for type 1 error.
b
Significantly different from control (P < 0.05).
c
Significantly different from metronidazole result (P < 0.05).
d
Microcolonies were defined as clusters of cells with >500 pixel counts.