Hence, the aims of this study were to evaluate the interactions of a reference laboratory strain of P. aeruginosa and six different Candida species, C. albicans, C.

glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. dubliniensis, and C. krusei in a dual species biofilms TGF-beta inhibitor environment over a period of 2 days by both quantitative assays (Colony PF-01367338 supplier Forming Unit assay – CFU) and, qualitative evaluations using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Confocal Laser Scanning microscopy (CLSM). Results Candida and P. aeruginosa dual species biofilm growth After 90 min of biofilm development with P. aeruginosa, a significant, 57-88%, reduction in Candida counts was noted for C. albicans (57%, P = 0.005),C. dubliniensis (69%, P < 0.001),C. tropicalis (18%, P = 0.010) and C. parapsilosis (74%, P = 0.030) while P. aeruginosa did not impart such an effect on C. glabrata and C. krusei compared with the

controls (Table 1). Conversely, after 90 min, a significant reduction in CFU of P. aeruginosa was observed in the presence of C. albicans (81%, P = 0.002) C. krusei (62%, P = 0.002) but not with the other four Candida species (Table 1). Table 1 The mean CFU counts (± SD) of Candida spp. and P. aeruginosa from both monospecies and dual species biofilms at 90 min, 24 h and 48 h.   Time interval Candida CFU (106) ± SD P value P. aeruginosa CFU (106) ± SD P value     Control (MSB) Test (DSB)   Control (MSB) ARS-1620 chemical structure Test (DSB)   Candida albicans 90 min 12.60 ± 2.19 5.29 ± 1.52 0.005 3.44 ± 2.20 0.66 ± 0.69 0.002   24 h 15.22 ± 3.31 5.00 ± 2.60 < 0.001 876.89 ± 206.39 719.56 ± 266.53 0.200   48 h 31.89 ± 6.60 0.22 ± 0.44 < 0.001 1358.89 ± 323.59 922.22 ± 186.60 0.009 Candida krusei 90 min 2.43 ± 1.46 2.71 ± 0.66 0.352 7.32 ± 3.82 2.78 ± 1.29 0.003   24 h 3.39 ± 2.00 2.49 ± 0.73 0.301 987.78 ± 341.79 583.33 ± 218.92 0.022   48 h 0.09 ± 0.14 0.22 ± 0.44 PLEK2 0.867 140.00 ± 48.73 73.33 ± 35.71 0.010 Candida tropicalis 90 min 9.81 ± 3.05 3.87 ± 2.29 0.004 1.42 ± 1.25 2.26 ± 0.71 0.070   24 h 27.67 ± 5.92 3.44 ± 1.59 < 0.001 431.11

± 66.23 471.11 ± 162.90 0.534   48 h 4.22 ± 2.05 0.00 ± 0.00 < 0.001 98.89 ± 75.74 351.11 ± 162.51 0.002 Candida parapsilosis 90 min 10.60 ± 6.71 1.26 ± 1.34 < 0.001 4.87 ± 1.66 3.83 ± 2.31 0.228   24 h 2.11 ± 2.32 0.78 ± 0.44 0.364 412.22 ± 208.55 277.78 ± 162.69 0.121   48 h 0.89 ± 0.60 0.44 ± 0.73 0.120 183.33 ± 69.64 179.56 ± 50.02 0.859 Candida glabrata 90 min 10.81 ± 2.90 10.12 ± 3.97 0.659 9.91 ± 9.01 8.17 ± 5.03 0.691   24 h 35.78 ± 21.72 15.00 ± 21.08 0.024 328.89 ± 88.94 56.67 ± 15.81 < 0.001   48 h 28.22 ± 17.14 0.11 ± 0.33 < 0.001 128.89 ± 69.54 28.89 ± 17.64 < 0.001 Candida dubliniensis 90 min 9.34 ± 3.21 2.94 ± 1.50 < 0.001 9.83 ± 2.33 6.51 ± 4.35 0.070   24 h 5.81 ± 2.46 0.54 ± 0.88 < 0.001 878.89 ± 286.07 461.11 ± 142.78 0.003   48 h 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 1.000 97.78 ± 48.16 52.22 ± 50.94 0.056 P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Significant differences are shown in bold text.