Abstract
Hyaluronic acid (HA) has several clinical applications (aesthetic surgery, dermatology, orthopaedics and ophtalmology). Following recent evidence, suggesting antimicrobial and antiviral properties for HA, we investigated its effects on 15 ATCC strains, representative of clinically relevant bacterial and fungal species. The in vitro system employed allowed to assess optical density of broth cultures as a measure of microbial load in a time-dependent manner. The results showed that different microbial species and, sometimes, different strains belonging to the same species, are differently affected by HA. In particular, staphylococci, enterococci, Streptococcus mutans, two Escherichia coli strains, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida glabrata and C. parapsilosis displayed a HA dose-dependent growth inhibition; no HA effects were detected in E. coli ATCC 13768 and C. albicans; S. sanguinis was favoured by the highest HA dose. Therefore, the influence of HA on bacteria and fungi warrants further studies aimed at better establishing its relevance in clinical applications.
Highlights
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan made up of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine disaccharide units
Staphylococci, enterococci, Streptococcus mutans, two Escherichia coli strains, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida glabrata and C. parapsilosis displayed a HA dosedependent growth inhibition; no HA effects were detected in E. coli ATCC 13768 and C. albicans; S. sanguinis was favoured by the highest HA dose
In order to evaluate the effect of HA on staphylococcal strains, S. aureus ATCC 25923 (Fig. 1a, b) and S. epidermidis ATCC 12228 (Fig. 1c, d) were employed at two starting bacterial loads, 5 9 103 Colony Forming Units (CFUs)/ml (Fig. 1a, c) and 5 9 106 CFU/ml (Fig. 1b, d)
Summary
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a glycosaminoglycan made up of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine disaccharide units. It is a uniform, linear, unbranched and tiled molecule, with highly variable length and molecular weight (up to 106 Da). Its length, coupled to its high hydrating property, allows many HA polymers to organize in a reticular structure, which in turn produces a molecular framework. Such scaffolding, besides supporting tissues’ tone and shape, acts as a filter to prevent the diffusion of high molecular weight substances and dissemination of infectious agents [1]
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