A comparative study of experimental urinary catheters containing silver and zinc for biofilm inhibition. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vaitkus, Simonas; Simoes-Torigoe, Rafaela; Wong, Nicholas; Morris, Karcher; Spada, Frederick E; Alagiri, Madhu; Talke, Frank E
• Is Part Of: Journal of biomaterials applications. Volume 35:Number 8(2021)
• Page Start: 1071
• Page End: 1081
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Catheters -- CAUTI -- reactive oxygen species -- silver ions -- biofilm; Biomedical engineering -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1177/0885328221989553
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0885-3282

Abstract

Both commercial and experimental antibacterial urinary catheters were investigated for their efficacy in preventing planktonic growth and biofilm formation of Escherichia Coli bacteria in a synthetic urine solution. Experimental antibacterial catheters having thin (<500 µm) dispersions of Ag, Ag/Ag2 O, or Zn/Ag2 O in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) binder all exhibited significant antimicrobial activity, outperforming traditional commercial antibacterial catheters. All experimental catheters prevented planktonic growth of bacteria and did not exhibit biofilm formation during a six-day test period using a colony forming unit (CFU) measurement method. On the other hand, the best performing commercial catheters demonstrated efficacy for only 3 days in planktonic growth tests and formed multiple bacterial colonies in CFU measurements. The Zn/Ag2 O/PDMS experimental catheter was the only catheter observed to produce hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species known to inhibit biofilm formation; lack of detectable hydrogen peroxide production by the Ag2 O/PDMS and Ag/Ag2 O/PDMS experimental catheters suggests that bactericidal action most likely arises from release of silver ions present in the PDMS coatings.