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A new method for screening anti-infective biomaterials

Nature Medicine volume 6, pages 1053–1056 (2000)Cite this article

Implantable medical devices such as catheters are indispensable in the management of critically and chronically ill patients for the administration of electrolytes, drugs, parenteral nutrients, blood components or drainage of secretions and pus. Artificial heart valves, prosthetics, ceramics, metals and bone cements are standard implants. All of these implants save human lives and enhance quality of life. At the same time they are the leading cause for millions of primary nosocomial bloodstream infections with substantial morbidity and mortality1. A property common to all these biomaterials is the ease by which they are colonized by pathogenic and nonpathogenic microorganisms, often requiring immediate removal.

Several methods have been devised to decrease the risk of foreign body-associated infections. These include the use of meticulous hygienic precautions, the development of hydrophilic materials to minimize bacterial adhesion and impregnation with antiseptics and antibiotics. Silver, in particular free silver ions2, is well known for its powerful and broad–spectrum antimicrobial activity still allowing the independent use of therapeutic antibiotics. The investigation of the antimicrobial activity of implants containing silver as an antimicrobial agent is difficult because many silver compounds are poorly water soluble, resulting in low concentrations of silver ions released into the surrounding medium. Therefore, the antimicrobial efficacy of polymers impregnated with elementary silver cannot be tested by routine agar diffusion measurements3. Like other procedures4,5, the agar diffusion technique was also inappropriate for a simultaneous high-throughput screening of silver prototypes.

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Figure 1: The microplate comb.
Figure 2: Microplate-comb model-ELISA (adhesion assay).
Figure 3: Microplate-comb model-proliferation assay: Measuring antimicrobial properties.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant of the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung. We thank R. Joyce-Wöhrmann, T. Hentschel, K. Bär and J. Plonbon for the preparation of biomaterial probes. We thank D. Arndt-Jovin, B. Ludwig and S. Diekmann for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic for Children and Adolescents, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Loschgestr. 15, Erlangen, 91054, Germany

    Thorsten Bechert & Josef-Peter Guggenbichler

  2. Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, Beutenbergstr. 11, Jena, 07745, Germany

    Peter Steinrücke

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  1. Thorsten Bechert
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Correspondence to Thorsten Bechert.

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Bechert, T., Steinrücke, P. & Guggenbichler, JP. A new method for screening anti-infective biomaterials. Nat Med 6, 1053–1056 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/79568

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