Prabha Subramani, Sowndarya Jothipandiyan, Ram Parepalli Janaki Venkata Sai, Rubini Durairajan, Hari B Narayanan Vedha, Aruni Wilson, Nithyanand Paramasivam
Biofilm Biology Laboratory, Centre for Research on Infectious Diseases [CRID], School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Tirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India.
Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India.
Curr Microbiol. 2021 Feb;78(2):502-512. doi: 10.1007/s00284-020-02306-7. Epub 2021 Jan 2.
Sutures are widely used materials for closing the surgical wounds, and being an inert material, sutures are often colonized with drug-resistant polymicrobial biofilms. Surgical site infection (SSI) is a hospital-acquired infection caused by bacteria and fungi specifically in the sutured sites. Although most of the currently available sutures possess antibacterial property, their ability to prevent biofilm colonization by polymicrobial communities is underexplored. So, the present study shows that extracted chitosan (EC) from crab shells prevented the adherence of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans, the predominant members that exist as mixed species at the site of SSI. In comparison with a commercial chitosan, EC showed profound inhibition of slime formation and mixed species biofilm inhibition. Intriguingly, EC-coated sutures could inhibit the growth of both bacterial and fungal pathogens when comparing with a commercial triclosan-coated suture which was active only against the bacterial pathogen. Scanning electron microscopy results revealed inhibition of C. albicans hyphal formation by the EC-coated sutures that is a crucial virulence factor responsible for tissue invasiveness. Collectively, the results of the present study showed that EC from crab shells (discarded material as a recalcitrant biowaste) could be used as an alternative to combat drug-resistant biofilms which are the prime cause for SSIs.
缝线是用于闭合手术伤口的广泛使用的材料，作为一种惰性材料，缝线常常被耐药性多微生物生物膜定植。手术部位感染（SSI）是一种由细菌和真菌在缝合部位引发的医院获得性感染。尽管目前大多数可用的缝线具有抗菌特性，但它们预防多微生物群落生物膜定植的能力尚未得到充分研究。因此，本研究表明，从蟹壳中提取的壳聚糖（EC）可防止表皮葡萄球菌和白色念珠菌的黏附，这两种菌是SSI部位以混合物种形式存在的主要成员。与市售壳聚糖相比，EC对黏液形成和混合物种生物膜抑制表现出显著的抑制作用。有趣的是，与仅对细菌病原体有活性的市售三氯生涂层缝线相比，EC涂层缝线能抑制细菌和真菌病原体的生长。扫描电子显微镜结果显示，EC涂层缝线抑制了白色念珠菌菌丝的形成，而菌丝形成是导致组织侵袭的关键毒力因子。总体而言，本研究结果表明，蟹壳中的EC（作为顽固生物废料的废弃材料）可作为对抗耐药生物膜的替代品，而耐药生物膜是SSI的主要原因。
