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Chitosan-Coated Surgical Sutures Prevent Adherence and Biofilms of Mixed Microbial Communities

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Abstract

Sutures are widely used materials for closing the surgical wounds, and being an inert material, sutures are often colonized with drug-resistant polymicrobial biofilms. Surgical site infection (SSI) is a hospital-acquired infection caused by bacteria and fungi specifically in the sutured sites. Although most of the currently available sutures possess antibacterial property, their ability to prevent biofilm colonization by polymicrobial communities is underexplored. So, the present study shows that extracted chitosan (EC) from crab shells prevented the adherence of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans, the predominant members that exist as mixed species at the site of SSI. In comparison with a commercial chitosan, EC showed profound inhibition of slime formation and mixed species biofilm inhibition. Intriguingly, EC-coated sutures could inhibit the growth of both bacterial and fungal pathogens when comparing with a commercial triclosan-coated suture which was active only against the bacterial pathogen. Scanning electron microscopy results revealed inhibition of C. albicans hyphal formation by the EC-coated sutures that is a crucial virulence factor responsible for tissue invasiveness. Collectively, the results of the present study showed that EC from crab shells (discarded material as a recalcitrant biowaste) could be used as an alternative to combat drug-resistant biofilms which are the prime cause for SSIs.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from Department of Biotechnology [DBT], Ministry of science and Technology, New Delhi [BT/PR/23592/MED/29/1203/2017] is gratefully acknowledged. The Fellowship to DR in the form of JRF by DBT is thankfully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biofilm Biology Laboratory, Centre for Research on Infectious Diseases [CRID], School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Tirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    Subramani Prabha, Jothipandiyan Sowndarya, Parepalli Janaki Venkata Sai Ram, Durairajan Rubini & Paramasivam Nithyanand

  2. Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    B Narayanan Vedha Hari

  3. US Department of Veteran Affairs, Loma Linda, VA, USA

    Wilson Aruni

  4. California University of Science and Medicine, San Bernardino, California, USA

    Wilson Aruni

  5. Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India

    Wilson Aruni

Authors
  1. Subramani Prabha
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  2. Jothipandiyan Sowndarya
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  3. Parepalli Janaki Venkata Sai Ram
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  4. Durairajan Rubini
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  5. B Narayanan Vedha Hari
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  6. Wilson Aruni
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  7. Paramasivam Nithyanand
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Contributions

PS, PJVSR and DR performed research, BNVH, WA and PN analyzed data and wrote the paper, PN designed overall study/research.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paramasivam Nithyanand.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

The clinical strain was isolated from wound site of an infected patient from Balaji Hospital, Chennai after obtaining the ethical committee approval [Ref.No.002/SBMC/IHEC/2019/1190].

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Prabha, S., Sowndarya, J., Ram, P.J.V.S. et al. Chitosan-Coated Surgical Sutures Prevent Adherence and Biofilms of Mixed Microbial Communities. Curr Microbiol 78, 502–512 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02306-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02306-7

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