In situ synthesis of biocompatible imidazolium salt hydrogels with antimicrobial activity.
Infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria is becoming a significant public health risk. In this study, we synthesized a series of imidazolium salt (IMS)-containing polymers and hydrogels and tested their antimicrobial properties against both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli and PA01) bacteria. IMSs were either grafted as side chains or functionalized in the main chain of linear polymers, which demonstrated antimicrobial properties with minimum inhibitory concentrations as low as 2 μg/mL. Similarly, the optimized IMS-containing hydrogel effectively killed MRSA with a 96.1% killing efficiency and inhibited the growth of PA01. These hydrogels also demonstrated high performance in terms of mechanical property (compressive strength >2 MPa) and were noncytotoxic toward human dermal fibroblasts. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: A series of polyimidazolium hydrogels were fabricated with acrylamide monomer and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate by thermal-initiated polymerization. These hydrogels completely killed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. More importantly, these hydrogels demonstrated adequate mechanical property and biocompatibility. These antimicrobial hydrogels have the potential as biomaterials for preventing infections associated with multidrug-resistant bacteria.
['Liang|Jingshi|J|', 'Li|Jianghua|J|', 'Zhou|Chao|C|', 'Jia|Wenkai|W|', 'Song|Hongqin|H|', 'Zhang|Ling|L|', 'Zhao|Feng|F|', 'Lee|Bruce P|BP|', 'Liu|Bo|B|']
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents D000890:Anti-Infective Agents D001672:Biocompatible Materials D001965:Bromides D002712:Chlorides D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial D004926:Escherichia coli D005347:Fibroblasts D006801:Humans D020100:Hydrogels D007093:Imidazoles D008422:Materials Testing D008689:Methacrylates D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning D011092:Polyethylene Glycols D011108:Polymers D011312:Pressure D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa D012867:Skin D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared D013211:Staphylococcus aureus D013314:Stress, Mechanical
Biocompatibility Imidazolium salts Hydrogels Antimicrobial activities Mechanical performance