Issue 23, 2024

Antimicrobial nanocomposite coatings for rapid intervention against catheter-associated urinary tract infections

Abstract

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) pose a significant challenge in hospital settings. Current solutions available on the market involve incorporating antimicrobials and antiseptics into catheters. However, challenges such as uncontrolled release leading to undesirable toxicity, as well as the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance reduce the effectiveness of these solutions. Additionally, conventional antibiotics fail to effectively eradicate entrenched bacteria and metabolically suppressed bacteria present in the biofilm, necessitating the exploration of alternative strategies. Here, we introduce a novel polymer–nanocomposite coating that imparts rapid antimicrobial and anti-biofilm properties to coated urinary catheters. We have coated silicone-based urinary catheters with an organo-soluble antimicrobial polymer nanocomposite (APN), containing hydrophobic quaternized polyethyleneimine and zinc oxide nanoparticles, in a single step coating process. The coated surfaces exhibited rapid eradication of drug-resistant bacteria within 10–15 min, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae, MRSA, and S. epidermidis, as well as drug-resistant C. albicans fungi. APN coated catheters exhibited potent bactericidal activity against uropathogenic strains of E. coli, even when incubated in human urine. Furthermore, the stability of the coating and retention of antimicrobial activity was validated even after multiple washes. More importantly, this coating deterred biofilm formation on the catheter surface, and displayed rapid inactivation of metabolically repressed stationary phase and persister cells. The ability of the coated surfaces to disrupt bacterial membranes and induce the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed through different techniques, such as electron microscopy imaging, flow cytometry as well as fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy. The surface coatings were found to be biocompatible in an in vivo mice model. Our simple one-step coating approach for catheters holds significant potential owing to its ability to tackle multidrug resistant bacteria and fungi, and the challenge of biofilm formation. This work brings us one step closer to enhancing patient care and safety in hospitals.

Graphical abstract: Antimicrobial nanocomposite coatings for rapid intervention against catheter-associated urinary tract infections

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 2 2024
Accepted
27 4 2024
First published
09 5 2024

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 11109-11125

Antimicrobial nanocomposite coatings for rapid intervention against catheter-associated urinary tract infections

D. Patra, S. Ghosh, S. Mukherjee, Y. Acharya, R. Mukherjee and J. Haldar, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 11109 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR00653D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements