High-throughput Identification of Bacteria Repellent Polymers for Medical Devices.

Medical devices are often associated with hospital-acquired infections, which place enormous strain on patients and the healthcare system as well as contributing to antimicrobial resistance. One possible avenue for the reduction of device-associated infections is the identification of bacteria-repellent polymer coatings for these devices, which would prevent bacterial binding at the initial attachment step. A method for the identification of such repellent polymers, based on the parallel screening of hundreds of polymers using a microarray, is described here. This high-throughput method resulted in the identification of a range of promising polymers that resisted binding of various clinically relevant bacterial species individually and also as multi-species communities. One polymer, PA13 (poly(methylmethacrylate-co-dimethylacrylamide)), demonstrated significant reduction in attachment of a number of hospital isolates when coated onto two commercially available central venous catheters. The method described could be applied to identify polymers for a wide range of applications in which modification of bacterial attachment is important.

Bacteria repelling poly(methylmethacrylate-co-dimethylacrylamide) coatings for biomedical devices†Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Polymer microarray screening, including analysis of bacterial adhesion by fluorescence microscopy and SEM, and chemical composition of bacteria repelling polymers identified in the screen; polymer synthesis and characterisation; preparation of catheter pieces and solvent studies, and details for confocal imaging/analysis. See DOI: 10.1039/c4tb01129eClick here for additional data file.

Nosocomial infections due to bacteria have serious implications on the health and recovery of patients in a variety of medical scenarios. Since bacterial contamination on medical devices contributes to the majority of nosocomical infections, there is a need for redesigning the surfaces of medical devices, such as catheters and tracheal tubes, to resist the binding of bacteria. In this work, polyurethanes and polyacrylates/acrylamides, which resist binding by the major bacterial pathogens underpinning implant-associated infections, were identified using high-throughput polymer microarrays. Subsequently, two 'hit' polymers, PA13 (poly(methylmethacrylate-co-dimethylacrylamide)) and PA515 (poly(methoxyethylmethacrylate-co-diethylaminoethylacrylate-co-methylmethacrylate)), were used to coat catheters and substantially shown to decrease binding of a variety of bacteria (including isolates from infected endotracheal tubes and heart valves from intensive care unit patients). Catheters coated with polymer PA13 showed up to 96% reduction in bacteria binding in comparison to uncoated catheters.