Immobilization-Enhanced Eradication of Bacterial Biofilms and in situ Antimicrobial Coating of Implant Material Surface – an in vitro Study

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate a new method of in situ biofilm treatment for infected prostheses that remove bacterial biofilm and prevent reinfection through the use of an immobilizing agent in combination with the actions of biofilm-lysing enzymes and bactericidal antimicrobials.

Methods

We investigated the combination of self-immobilization chemistry of dopamine with a biofilm-lysing enzyme, α-amylase (Am), and an antimicrobial agent, silver nitrate (Ag), to treat model Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) biofilms formed on titanium. The efficacy of biofilm removal and bacterial treatment was analyzed by crystal violet, colony-forming unit assays, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To confirm the in situ coating of the titanium surface with antimicrobial Ag as a strategy to prevent bacterial recolonization, SEM in secondary electron mode (SE), backscatter electron mode, (BSE) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) were used. The antimicrobial activity of the coated surface was evaluated by optical density measurement and colony-forming unit assays.

Results

Polydopamine (PDA)-assisted treatment showed approximately a 2 log reduction in recoverable CFU and a 15% increase in biofilm removal efficacy compared to treatments that had only Am or Ag. More importantly, PDA-assisted treatment was found to immobilize Ag on the surface after the treatment, rendering them resistant to bacterial recolonization.

Conclusion

Our in vitro findings suggested that this PDA-assisted treatment and the surface immobilization-enhanced treatment concept could be promising in the development of advanced treatment for implant retention surgery for an infected prosthesis.

Keywords:

• bacterial biofilm
• in situ treatment
• implants
• antimicrobial
• coatings

Acknowledgments

PAT would like to acknowledge his Advance Queensland Research Fellowship (AQRF04816-17RD2) and QUT’s Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellowship. We would like to acknowledge QUT’s Central Analytical Research Facility for instrument access.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.