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Biofilm-inhibiting nanocomposite coatings on surgical sutures: durability and mechanistic insights

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Abstract

Biofilms are a critical health concern because of their ability to render tolerance and resistance against antimicrobials, which is especially challenging for surgical-site sterility and surgical wound recovery. Development of biofilm-inhibiting coatings on surgical devices could aid to limit biofilm formation at surgical site. In this context, two biofilm-inhibiting nanocomposite hydrophobic coating formulations, one with biocide and the other without biocide, were developed and deposited on various substrates such as glass, plastics, and surgical sutures, followed by biofilm inhibition evaluation. Encouraging results were obtained and reported earlier. In the present study, the biofilm-inhibiting action of coatings on surgical sutures was re-examined using a spot assay method by counting the colony-forming units. The long-term durability of the coated sutures with respect to varying temperature, humidity, inflammatory cytokines, and body fluid was studied, in order to validate their suitability for use in surgical accessories and biomedical devices. RTPCR test was carried out to look for downregulation of biofilm-forming genes. Cytotoxicity of the nanocomposite coatings was examined by carrying out an MTT assay. The downregulation of biofilm-forming genes and minimal cytotoxicity of the nanocomposite coatings further confirmed its viability for using on surgical sutures. Overall, the current study provides mechanistic insights and additional bactericidal effect of the hitherto demonstrated antibiofilm activity of the formulation. This study also establishes long-term durability of the coatings in terms of temperature, humidity, and exposure to plasma, enabling its use in surgical accessories to be commercialized in various settings.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the funding agency of Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for supporting the work through Grant No. BT/PR31908/MED/29/1401/2019, and one of the authors (MY) would like to thank UGC for fellowship support. The authors are also thankful to the directors of their respective institutes for the constant support and motivation throughout the work.

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Author notes

  1. Ramay Patra, Manisha Yadav, Deepak Kumar, and Birru Bhaskar have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Sol-Gel Coatings, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, Telangana State, 500005, India

    R. Subasri, Ramay Patra & K. R. C. Soma Raju

  2. L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Kallam Anji Reddy Campus, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500034, India

    Birru Bhaskar & Prashant Garg

  3. Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, Haryana, 121001, India

    Manisha Yadav, Deepak Kumar, Subhash Tanwar & Susmita Chaudhuri

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  1. R. Subasri
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  2. Ramay Patra
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  3. Manisha Yadav
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  4. Deepak Kumar
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The manuscript was written through the contributions of all authors. All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. Subasri, Susmita Chaudhuri or Prashant Garg.

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Subasri, R., Patra, R., Yadav, M. et al. Biofilm-inhibiting nanocomposite coatings on surgical sutures: durability and mechanistic insights. J Coat Technol Res 20, 377–392 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-022-00678-y

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