Abdo Adrian I, Nguyen Hang T, Kaul Laurine D, Schmitt-John Thomas, Kopecki Zlatko, Ogunniyi Abiodun D, Richter Katharina
Richter Lab, Department of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research & the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Biofilm. 2025 Aug 5;10:100308. doi: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2025.100308. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Chronic wound infections are notoriously difficult to treat due to bacterial biofilms - protective communities of microbes that can resist antibiotics and host defenses. With rising antimicrobial resistance, there is an urgent need for non-antibiotic therapies that can effectively disrupt biofilms and promote wound healing. Plasma-activated water (PAW), produced by bubbling cold plasma into water, creates an antimicrobial solution rich in reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of PAW as a topical wound cleanser. In vitro, we demonstrated that PAW effectively eradicated biofilm-forming bacteria, including spp., and achieving a reduction of 2.99-4.41 log(colony forming units [CFU]/mL). In vivo, PAW significantly improved larvae survival from infection with methicillin-resistant (MRSA) or . Moreover, we treated scald burn wounds infected with bioluminescent MRSA biofilm in BALB/c mice with twice-daily topical PAW application. Compared to vehicle, PAW significantly reduced bacterial load from day 4-7 (0.44-0.49 log[photons/s] reduction, ≤ 0.0337), with endpoint analysis confirming a 1.33 log[CFU/g] reduction ( = 0.0032). Histological assessment showed significantly improved wound re-epithelialisation in PAW-treated mice (63.2 %) compared to vehicle (49.2 %, = 0.0093). These results demonstrate that PAW is a safe, effective antimicrobial wound cleanser with biofilm-disrupting and tissue-healing properties. Based on these findings, a clinical phase I trial is planned to evaluate PAW as an adjuvant to standard wound care in the treatment of diabetic foot wounds.
慢性伤口感染因细菌生物膜而 notoriously 难以治疗，细菌生物膜是一种微生物保护群落，能够抵抗抗生素和宿主防御。随着抗菌耐药性的不断上升，迫切需要能够有效破坏生物膜并促进伤口愈合的非抗生素疗法。通过将冷等离子体鼓泡到水中产生的等离子体活化水（PAW）可形成富含活性氧和氮物质的抗菌溶液。在本研究中，我们调查了PAW作为局部伤口清洁剂的疗效。在体外，我们证明PAW能有效根除形成生物膜的细菌，包括 spp.、 和 ，使菌落形成单位[CFU]/mL减少2.99 - 4.41 log。在体内，PAW显著提高了 幼虫在感染耐甲氧西林 （MRSA） 或 后的存活率。此外，我们对BALB/c小鼠感染生物发光MRSA生物膜的烫伤伤口进行每日两次局部应用PAW治疗。与赋形剂相比，PAW从第4天到第7天显著降低了细菌载量（减少0.44 - 0.49 log[光子/秒]， ≤ 0.0337），终点分析证实减少了1.33 log[CFU/g]（ = 0.0032）。组织学评估显示，与赋形剂（49.2%， = 0.0093）相比，PAW治疗的小鼠伤口再上皮化显著改善（63.2%）。这些结果表明，PAW是一种安全、有效的抗菌伤口清洁剂，具有破坏生物膜和促进组织愈合的特性。基于这些发现，计划进行一项I期临床试验，以评估PAW作为糖尿病足伤口标准伤口护理辅助治疗的效果。
