New bactericidal surgical suture coating

Langmuir. 2012 Aug 21;28(33):12134-9. doi: 10.1021/la302732w. Epub 2012 Aug 9.

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a new antimicrobial suture coating. An amphiphilic polymer, poly[(aminoethyl methacrylate)-co-(butyl methacrylate)] (PAMBM), inspired by antimicrobial peptides, was bactericidal against S. aureus in time-kill experiments. PAMBM was then evaluated in a variety of polymer blends using the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) method and showed excellent antimicrobial activity at a low concentration (0.5 wt %). Using a similar antimicrobial coating formula to commercial Vicryl Plus sutures, disk samples of the coating material containing PAMBM effectively killed bacteria (98% reduction at 0.75 wt %). Triclosan, the active ingredient in Vicryl Plus coatings, did not kill the bacteria. Further Kirby-Bauer assays of these disk samples showed an increasing zone of inhibition with increasing concentration of PAMBM. Finally, the PAMBM-containing coating was applied to sutures, and the morphology of the coating surface was characterized by SEM, along with Vicryl and uncoated sutures. The PAMBM-containing sutures killed bacteria more effectively (3 log(10) reduction at 2.4 wt %) than Vicryl Plus sutures (0.5 log(10) reduction).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry*
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Biomimetic Materials / chemistry*
  • Biomimetic Materials / pharmacology*
  • Kinetics
  • Polymers / chemistry
  • Polymers / pharmacology
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Stearic Acids / chemistry
  • Sutures / microbiology*
  • Triclosan / chemistry
  • Triclosan / pharmacology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Polymers
  • Stearic Acids
  • stearic acid
  • Triclosan