Morck, DouglasLockhart, Joey Scott2015-01-282015-02-232015-01-282015Lockhart, J. S. (2015). Neutrophil Responses to Mixed-Species Anaerobic Biofilms (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27088http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2039Biofilms composed of anaerobic bacteria often result in persistent infections and chronic inflammation. Host immune cells have difficulties in clearing biofilm-related infections and this can result in unnecessary tissue damage due to the overproduction of proinflammatory mediators. The objective of this project was to generate mixed-species anaerobic biofilms composed of two opportunistic pathogens, Fusobacterium necrophorum and Porphyromonas levii and measure neutrophil responses. Neutrophils are a vital component of the innate immune system and the results show that neutrophils exposed to mixed-species planktonic bacteria exhibit a more extensive oxidative response than neutrophils exposed to biofilms composed of the same bacteria. The limited neutrophil response to biofilm bacteria may explain the reduced ability of the innate immune system to eradicate biofilm-associated infections. The results demonstrate that bacterial lipopolysaccharide plays a significant role in the stimulation of neutrophils, however the evidence points to the presence of other stimulatory molecules in the bacterial media.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.MicrobiologyImmunologyNeutrophilBiofilmAnaerobeOxidative Burstmaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/27088