Surface Functionalization of Ureteral Stents-Based Polyurethane: Engineering Antibacterial Coatings.

Kardelen Ecevit,Alexandre A Barros,Eduardo Silva,Joana M Silva,Rui L Reis,Luísa C Rodrigues,Ivo Aroso

doi:10.3390/ma15051676

Abstract

Bacterial colonization of polyurethane (PU) ureteral stents usually leads to severe and challenging clinical complications. As such, there is an increasing demand for an effective response to this unmet medical challenge. In this study, we offer a strategy based on the functionalization of PU stents with chitosan-fatty acid (CS-FA) derivatives to prevent bacterial colonization. Three different fatty acids (FAs), namely stearic acid (SA), oleic acid (OA), and linoleic acid (LinA), were successfully grafted onto chitosan (CS) polymeric chains. Afterwards, CS-FA derivatives-based solutions were coated on the surface of PU stents. The biological performance of the modified PU stents was evaluated against the L929 cell line, confirming negligible cytotoxicity of the developed coating formulations. The antibacterial potential of coated PU stents was also evaluated against several microorganisms. The obtained data indicate that the base material already presents an adequate performance against Staphylococcus aureus, which slightly improved with the coating. However, the performance of the PU stents against Gram-negative bacteria was markedly increased with the surface functionalization approach herein used. As a result, this study reveals the potential use of CS-FA derivatives for surface functionalization of ureteral PU stents and allows for conjecture on its successful application in other biomedical devices.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralUreteral stents are commonly used to treat neurogenic bladder, urinary flow obstruction, or acute urinary retention to provide urine drainage from the kidney to the bladder [1]
The conjugation of CS with different fatty acids (FAs) derivatives was performed as a modified version of previous studies using different molecular weights and degrees of deacetylation of CS combined with different FAs [19,34]
The obtained results show that these coated materials can prevent bacagents that do not incur bacterial resistance are needed to diminish the spread of bacterial terial attachment and colonization of all tested microorganisms, even for Graminfections

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralUreteral stents are commonly used to treat neurogenic bladder, urinary flow obstruction (kidney stones and obstructive tumors), or acute urinary retention to provide urine drainage from the kidney to the bladder [1]. As reported by the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the use of ureteral stents accounts for nearly 75% of hospital-acquired urinary tract infections as a consequence of pathogen adhesion to the medical device surface [4,5]. Some of these infections are caused by biofilm formation comprising microbial communities resistant to commonly applied antibiotics, posing a serious health hazard to patients [3]. Several studies reported with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

Methods

Results

Conclusion