in this study: Candida albicans, Acholeplasma laidlawii,. Mycoplasma orale, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. At a specific number of colony forming ...
Sponsored Paper
Application Forum Impact of H2O2 Decontamination Technology Over High Heat Sterilization: Increased Efficiency and Efficacy with Significantly Reduced Downtime Deepak M. Mistry, Senior Manager, Strategic Development & Marketing Nehal Kothari, Strategic Marketing & Application Specialist
Introduction Contamination of cell cultures is easily the most common problem encountered in cell culture laboratories and can lead to very serious consequences. Of all the likely sources, the cell culture incubator has often been considered one of the most probable sources of biological contamination. Many incubator manufacturers have addressed this issue using different types of sterilization technologies.
Determining the Most Efficient and Effective Technique A study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of three industry-leading incubators that utilize different sterilization techniques: Panasonic’s MCO19AIC UVH with H2O2 decontamination technology that requires 2 hours for its cycle with around 15 minutes of prep time, Brand A with a dry heat sterilization method that takes 10-12 hours for the complete process, and Brand B with a moist heat sterilization method that requires up to 25 hours from start to finish. Five different microorganisms, generally considered the most common contaminants in a cell culture environment, were tested in this study: Candida albicans, Acholeplasma laidlawii, Mycoplasma orale, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. At a specific number of colony forming units (CFUs), each organism was placed on both upper and lower shelves of the incubators, which were then allowed to go through their individual sterilization cycle. A time control coupon was also run simultaneously for the same amount of time as the sterilization cycle. Each of the three cell culture incubators showed complete bioburden reduction for each organism. However, Panasonic’s MCO-19AIC UVH offered complete organism elimination in 2 hours, as compared to 10-12 hours and 25 hours for Brand A and Brand B, respectively. In addition, a reduction in viability was observed for Candida albicans, Acholeplasma laidlawii and Mycoplasma orale when each time control was compared. The Panasonic MCO-19AIC UVH effectively showed a greater bioburden reduction than Brand A and Brand B when the 2 hour time control was
Figure 1. Comparison of sterilization effectiveness. Bioburden reduction was measured for three types of incubators: Panasonic’s MCO-19 AIC UVH, Brand A, and Brand B.
compared to the 10-12 hour and 25 hour time controls. This validates the effectiveness with which Panasonic’s MCO-19 AIC UVH incubator decontaminates the chamber. For Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, an increase in viability was observed over time when compared to time controls. However, Panasonic’s MCO-19 AIC UVH incubator efficiently eliminated all of the bioburden in a considerably shorter span of time without significantly increasing the original concentration of the organisms.
Conclusion The 2 hour uptime advantage offered by the Panasonic MCO-19AIC UVH incubator with 100% kill rate and at least a 6-log reduction for all the organisms tested, leads to increased productivity in a research or GMP environment. Go to www.SterisonicH2O2.com to download a full version of the Whitepaper.
Vol. 54 | No. 3 | 2013
172
www.BioTechniques.com
