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Rita Teixeira-Santos

Rita Teixeira-Santos

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50
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Publications

Publications (50)
Article
Full-text available
The ability of bacteria to adhere to and form biofilms on food contact surfaces poses serious challenges, as these may lead to the cross-contamination of food products. Biomimetic topographic surface modifications have been explored to enhance the antifouling performance of materials. In this study, the topography of two plant leaves, Brassica oler...
Article
Full-text available
Chemically modified carbon nanotubes are recognized as effective materials for tackling bacterial infections. In this study, pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (p-MWCNTs) were functionalized with nitric acid (f-MWCNTs), followed by thermal treatment at 600 °C, and incorporated into a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) matrix. The materials’ textural...
Article
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The application of graphene-based materials in medicine has led to significant technological breakthroughs. The remarkable properties of these carbon materials and their potential for functionalization with various molecules and compounds make them highly attractive for numerous medical applications. To enhance their functionality and applicability...
Article
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Graphene has been broadly studied, particularly for the fabrication of biomedical devices, owing to its physicochemical and antimicrobial properties. In this study, the antibiofilm efficacy of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-based composites as coatings for urinary catheters (UCs) was investigated. GNPs were functionalized with nitrogen (N-GNP) and inc...
Article
Full-text available
Graphene and its functionalized derivatives have been increasingly applied in the biomedical field, particularly in the production of antimicrobial and anti-adhesive surfaces. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of graphene oxide (GO)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms....
Article
Full-text available
Microorganisms tend to adhere to food contact surfaces and form biofilms, which serve as reservoirs for bacteria that can contaminate food. As part of a biofilm, bacteria are protected from the stressful conditions found during food processing and become tolerant to antimicrobials, including traditional chemical sanitisers and disinfectants. Severa...
Article
Full-text available
Due to its several economic and ecological consequences, biofouling is a widely recognized concern in the marine sector. The search for non-biocide-release antifouling coatings has been on the rise, with carbon-nanocoated surfaces showing promising activity. This work aimed to study the impact of pristine graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) on biofilm dev...
Article
Full-text available
Marine biofouling is a natural process often associated with biofilm formation on submerged surfaces, creating a massive economic and ecological burden. Although several antifouling paints have been used to prevent biofouling, growing ecological concerns emphasize the need to develop new and environmentally friendly antifouling approaches such as b...
Article
This study aims to investigate the influence of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) loading on the antibiofilm activity of MWCNT/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) composites against single- and dual-species biofilms of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis. MWCNT/PDMS composites containing different MWCNT loadings (1, 2, and 3 wt%) were synthesiz...
Article
Full-text available
Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) represents a promising bottom-up methodology for the synthesis and transference of nanoparticles to the surface of a biomedical device. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles directly incorporated on the metallic implant emerge as an alternative strategy for local action against prosthetic joint-associated infections. In the presen...
Article
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Although carbon materials are widely used in surface engineering, particularly graphene (GP) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the application of these nanocomposites for the development of antibiofilm marine surfaces is still poorly documented. The aim of this study was, thus, to gather and discuss the relevant literature concerning the antifouling per...
Chapter
Full-text available
The effectiveness of biomedical surfaces may be highly affected by the hydrodynamic condition. Surfaces releasing antimicrobial substances when exposed to flow may exhibit shorter lifetimes than at static conditions. Likewise, depending on the fluid flow surrounding the surface, contact-killing surfaces that are adhesive for bacterial cells may be...
Article
Although urinary catheters (UCs) are one of the most used medical devices, they are related to a high incidence of urinary tract infections resulting from microbial colonization and consequent biofilm development on UC surfaces. Currently, a panoply of antimicrobial and antifouling surfaces is available to solve this longstanding problem. However,...
Article
Full-text available
Ureteral stents are broadly used for the treatment of a wide range of pathologies, with different complexities and characteristics. Despite being efficient, the morbidity associated with stents, such as bacterial infection and pain, limits their therapeutic action and often represents an increase in healthcare costs. As no single solution fits all...
Article
Bacterial colonization of indwelling medical devices poses a danger to the patient and is a tremendous economic burden that costs billions of dollars to the healthcare system. Thus, it is essential to develop an effective mechanism that prevents the attachment of bacteria to the surface in combination with bactericidal strategies to kill them in di...
Article
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Despite the advancements in material science and surgical techniques, the incidence of implant-associated infections (IAIs) has increased significantly. IAIs are mainly caused by microbial adhesion and biofilm formation on implant surfaces. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and critically discuss the antimicrobial efficacy of chitosan-based coati...
Chapter
The undesirable attachment of fouling organisms to submerged surfaces occurs spontaneously in marine ecosystems and may have serious economic and environmental implications. Cyanobacteria are one of the most dominant microfoulers, colonizing different surfaces at diverse locations all over the world. Several factors have been indicated as modulator...
Article
Full-text available
Novel technologies to prevent biofilm formation on urinary tract devices (UTDs) are continually being developed, with the ultimate purpose of reducing the incidence of urinary infections. Probiotics have been described as having the ability to displace adhering uropathogens and inhibit microbial adhesion to UTD materials. This work aimed to evaluat...
Article
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Implantable medical devices (IMDs) are susceptible to microbial adhesion and biofilm formation, which lead to several clinical complications, including the occurrence of implant-associated infections. Polylactic acid (PLA) and its composites are currently used for the construction of IMDs. In addition, chitosan (CS) is a natural polymer that has be...
Article
Full-text available
Biofilm-related infections are becoming a major clinical problem due to the increasingly widespread ability of pathogens to develop persistent biofilms in medical devices. The inadequate response of conventional antimicrobial strategies to counteract biofilm development demands urgent alternatives. An increasing interest in promoting a natural appr...
Article
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Since biofilm formation by microfoulers significantly contributes to the fouling process, it is important to evaluate the performance of marine surfaces to prevent biofilm formation, as well as understand their interactions with microfoulers and how these affect biofilm development and structure. In this study, the long-term performance of five sur...
Article
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Several methodologies have been implemented with the intent of preventing or reducing the formation of biofilms on indwelling urinary devices. The use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in the biomedical field has been increasing, particularly in the production of antimicrobial and antifouling coatings. Despite their proven antimicrobial properties, their...
Article
A rapid and effective identification of fungal species is essential for numerous applications, and electronic nose systems are being proposed as suitable alternatives to currently available fungi identification techniques. Hence, the present review aims to unveil all published information concerning fungi identification by electronic nose systems....
Article
Although laboratory assays provide valuable information about the antifouling effectiveness of marine surfaces and the dynamics of biofilm formation, they may be laborious and time-consuming. This study aimed to determine the potential of short-time adhesion assays to estimate how biofilm development may proceed. The initial adhesion and cyanobacte...
Article
Full-text available
The development of antifouling (AF) technology for marine environments is an area of intense research given the severe economic and ecological effects of marine biofouling. Preliminary data from in vitro assays is frequently used to screen the performance of AF coatings. It is intuitive that microbial composition plays a major role in surface colon...
Article
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Medical device-associated infections (MDAI) are a critical problem due to the increasing usage of medical devices in the aging population. The inhibition of biofilm formation through the use of probiotics has received attention from the medical field in the last years. However, this sparse knowledge has not been properly reviewed, so that successfu...
Article
Full-text available
Although high-performance carbon materials are widely used in surface engineering, with emphasis on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the application of CNT nanocomposites on medical surfaces is poorly documented. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and anti-adhesive properties of CNT-based surfaces. For this purpose, a PRISMA-oriented sys...
Article
Full-text available
Biofilms formed on submerged marine surfaces play a critical role in the fouling process, causing increased fuel consumption, corrosion, and high maintenance costs. Thus, marine biofouling is a major issue and motivates the development of antifouling coatings. In this study, the performance of two commercial marine coatings, a foul-release silicone...
Chapter
PDMS is one of the most widely used polymers for the fabrication of biomedical devices. Of particular relevance is the application of PDMS in urinary tract devices such as urinary catheters and ureteral stents. As these devices are being used by a growing number of patients and indwelling times are increasing in an aging population, the incidence o...
Chapter
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are versatile nanomaterials with outstanding properties that can be used in different fields. This chapter reviews the use of single- and multi-walled CNTs in the development of antimicrobial and antifouling surfaces. The performance of CNT-containing surfaces seems to depend on a multiplicity of factors that can be conjugat...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the conditions affecting cyanobacterial biofilm development is crucial to develop new antibiofouling strategies and decrease the economic and environmental impact of biofilms in marine settings. In this study, we investigated the relative importance of shear forces and surface hydrophobicity on biofilm development by two coccoid cyano...
Article
Full-text available
Numerous studies have explored the antibacterial properties of different types of honey from all around the world. However, the data available describing how honey acts against bacteria are few. The aim of this study was to apply a flow cytometry (FC) protocol to examine and characterize the primary effects of three varieties of honey (avocado, che...
Article
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Several studies have explored the antimicrobial properties of manuka honey (MkH). However, the data available regarding antibacterial action mechanisms are scarcer. The aim of this study was to scrutinize and characterize primary effects of manuka honey (MkH) upon the physiological status of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (as Gram-posit...
Poster
Full-text available
Background: Dalbavancin is a novel second-generation lipoglycopeptide antibiotic. It has strong activity against many Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Based on MIC data and other studies, dalbavancin is bactericidal and more potent than vancomycin against these organisms, there...
Article
Purpose: Clinical epidemiological data about the distinct Malassezia species remain scarce. The recurrence of Malassezia-related skin diseases, despite long-term use of antifungals, raises concern about the hypothetical emergence of antifungal resistance. We aimed to assess the distribution of Malassezia species among patients from a University Ho...
Article
One of teachers’ concerns, with students in general and medical students in particular, is to ensure as much as possible that information goes from students’ short-term memories to their long-term memories. The present study focuses on knowledge retention in Medical Microbiology and assesses the effectiveness of some strategies implemented for shor...
Article
Background: Recent studies shows lack of knowledge concerning health literacy relatively microorganism/disease and the correct use of antibiotics. These facts lead to the spreading of resistant strains bacteria. Aims: The overarching goals of this study were a) to promote health literacy predominantly in respect to microorganism/disease, diseases t...
Article
Full-text available
Laboratory assessment of antimicrobial susceptibility is a prerequisite for adequate management of infections. The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of the novel FASTinov® kit for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of Gram negative bacilli directly on positive blood cultures. One hundred and two positive blood cultures fr...
Chapter
The diagnosis of infection is based on methodologies that are, even in the 21st century, based on the study of the ability of microorganisms to grow in the presence of different substrates in the case of identification or in the presence of different antimicrobial drugs in the case of susceptibility evaluation. Despite the use of revolutionary tech...
Article
Full-text available
Patients with multiple comorbidities are often administered simultaneously or sequentially antifungals and antibacterial agents, without full knowledge of the consequences of drug interactions. Considering the clinical relevance of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AMB), the association between L-AMB and six antibacterial agents was evaluated against fou...
Article
Full-text available
The synergy of carbapenem combinations regarding Enterobacteriaceae producing different types of carbapenemases was study through different approaches: flow cytometry and computational analysis. Ten well characterized Enterobacteriaceae (KPC, verona integron-encoded metallo-β-lactamases –VIM and OXA-48-like enzymes) were selected for the study. The...
Article
Full-text available
In vitro resistance to amphotericin B is an extremely rare event among pathogenic yeasts. However, in vivo response is sometimes reduced, resulting in an unfavorable outcome. Such adverse outcomes might be related with sub-fungicidal plasma concentrations. We aimed to clarify the mechanisms of liposomal amphotericin B (AMB-L, AmBisome)-induced lesi...
Article
Full-text available
During the last 30 years the incidence of fungal infections has increased dramatically. While the antifungal therapeutic options available are somewhat reduced, most pathogenic microorganisms have an incredible capacity to mutate and acquire resistance. In addition, multiple drugs are often required concomitantly to manage clinically complex disord...
Article
Biofilms are commonly involved in medical device-related infections. The purpose of this study was to determine the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) and PEI-Based nanoparticles (nanoPEI) against Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida albicans, (clinical and ATCC strains), and to...
Article
Full-text available
Unlabelled: In the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the CUG codon is translated 97% of the time as serine and 3% of the time as leucine, which potentially originates an array of proteins resulting from the translation of a single gene. Genes encoding cell surface proteins are enriched in CUG codons; thus, CUG mistranslation may influence th...
Article
Full-text available
A combination of drugs possessing different targets has been used as salvage therapy, although without scientific support. In vitro studies validating such combinations are scarce, and the methodology is very laborious and time-consuming. This study proposes a flow cytometric (FC) protocol as an alternative to evaluate the effect of the combination...

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