Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) presents a significant health problem worldwide and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Herein, a silver-polytetrafluoroethylene (Ag-PTFE) nanocomposite coating for catheters was developed via a facile wet chemistry method. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of Ag and PTFE, the as-prepared Ag-PTFE-coated catheter exhibited enhanced antibacterial and antiadhesive activities against two CAUTI-associated strains: E. coli WT F1693 and S. aureus F1557. Compared to the uncoated commercial silicone catheters and the Ag-coated catheters, the Ag-PTFE-coated catheters were able to reduce bacterial adhesion by up to 60.3% and 55.2%, respectively. The Ag-PTFE-coated catheters also exhibited strong antibiofilm activity, reducing biofilm coverage by up to 97.4% compared with the commercial silicone catheters. In an in vitro bladder model, the Ag-PTFE-coated catheter displayed excellent anti-infection efficacy against bacteriuria, extending the lifetime of silicone catheters from a mean of 6 days to over 40 days. The Ag-PTFE coating also showed good biocompatibility with fibroblast cells in culture, making it a prospective strategy to overcome current challenges in CAUTI.
ACS biomaterials science & engineering. 2019 May 09 [Epub]
Shuai Zhang, Liyun Wang, Xinjin Liang, Jan Vorstius, Robert Keatch, George Corner, Ghulam Nabi, Fordyce Davidson, Geoffrey Michael Gadd, Qi Zhao
School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, United Kingdom., Geomicrobiology Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom., Academic Section of Urology, School of Medicine, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, DD1 9SY, United Kingdom.