Abstract
New strategies to fight bacteria and fungi are necessary in view of the problem of iatrogenic and nosocomial infections combined with the growing threat of increased antimicrobial resistance. Recently, our group has prepared and described two new readily available materials based on the combination of Rose Bengal (singlet oxygen photosensitizer) and commercially available cationic polystyrene (macroporous resin Amberlite® IRA 900 or gel-type resin IRA 400). These materials showed high efficacy in the antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, we present the photobactericidal effect of these polymers against an extended group of pathogens like Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and the opportunistic yeast Candida albicans using green light. The most interesting finding is that the studied materials are able to reduce the population of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with good activity, although, for C. albicans, in a moderate manner. In view of the results achieved and especially considering the inexpensiveness of these two types of photoactive polymers, we believe that they could be used as the starting point for the development of coatings for self-disinfecting surfaces.
Highlights
Nosocomial infections are growing in importance day by day and constitute a serious problem for public health, causing important human and economical loses
We reported recently [34] on simple and inexpensive photosensitizing materials based on the ionic attachment of the anionic singlet oxygen photosensitizer Rose Bengal (RB) on commercial cationic polystyrene (Amberlite R IRA 900 and IRA 400)
Preparation of the photo-antimicrobial conjugates involving these resins and RB was done by the exchange of chloride ions present in the original Amberlite R polymers (Pmp and Pgel), by RB anions, yielding the final polymers RB@Pmp and RB@Pgel, respectively
Summary
Nosocomial infections are growing in importance day by day and constitute a serious problem for public health, causing important human and economical loses. It is expected that bacterial and fungal infections will be a major cause of death worldwide [1]. These infections are mainly originated by a growing number of bacteria and fungi with strong resistance to chemotherapeutical drugs, and special attention is paid to the development of strategies that deal with the well-defined group of ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) [2]. The emergence of Candida spp. resistant to antifungal drugs is widely recognized and has become a global health problem [5]. Despite the intensive work carried out in order to develop alternatives to the current drug treatments [6, 7], the most realistic approach to fighting antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms continues to be the prevention of contagion
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