Fatty Acid Potassium Had Beneficial Bactericidal Effects and Removed Biofilms while Exhibiting Reduced Cytotoxicity towards Mouse Fibroblasts and Human Keratinocytes.

Wounds frequently become infected or contaminated with bacteria. Potassium oleate (C18:1K), a type of fatty acid potassium, caused >4 log colony-forming unit (CFU)/mL reductions in the numbers of and within 10 min and a >2 log CFU/mL reduction in the number of within 1 min. C18:1K (proportion removed: 90.3%) was significantly more effective at removing biofilms than the synthetic surfactant detergents sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) (74.8%, < 0.01) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) (78.0%, < 0.05). In the WST (water-soluble tetrazolium) assay, mouse fibroblasts (BALB/3T3 clone A31) in C18:1K (relative viability vs. control: 102.8%) demonstrated a significantly higher viability than those in SLES (30.1%) or SLS (18.1%, < 0.05). In a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage assay, C18:1K (relative leakage vs. control: 108.9%) was found to be associated with a significantly lower LDH leakage from mouse fibroblasts than SLES or SLS (720.6% and 523.4%, respectively; < 0.05). Potassium oleate demonstrated bactericidal effects against various species including , and ; removed significantly greater amounts of biofilm material than SLES and SLS; and maintained fibroblast viability; therefore, it might be useful for wound cleaning and peri-wound skin.