Inhibition of vascular prosthetic graft infection using a photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel.
BACKGROUND
Despite improvements in surgical techniques and antimicrobial therapies, prosthetic aortic graft infections remain a clinical problem. It is well known that chitosan has strong antibacterial activities to a wide variety of bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, epidermidis and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The antibacterial activity by adhering a photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel to Dacron grafts was investigated in vitro and in vivo using a rabbit model.


METHODS
The photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel (50microl) coated grafts (3 x 2mm fragments) were evaluated on a resistance against E. coliin vitro. The graft infections in vivo were also initiated through implantation of a Dacron graft fragment into the infrarenal aorta of a rabbit, followed by a topical inoculation with 10(6) colony-forming units of E. coli. The graft infection was allowed to develop over the following 1 week.


RESULTS
The photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel-coated grafts exhibited a resistance against E. coliin vitro. Furthermore, application of 0.1ml photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel on the Dacron implant in vivo substantially inhibited graft infection with E. coli.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary results suggested the potential use of a photocrosslinkable chitosan hydrogel in directing graft infection prophylaxis.
Department of Medical Engineering, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513, Japan. BXB01424@nifty.ne.jp
Masanori
M
Fujita
Manabu
M
Kinoshita
Masayuki
M
Ishihara
Yasuhiro
Y
Kanatani
Yuji
Y
Morimoto
Masafumi
M
Simizu
Toshiaki
T
Ishizuka
Yoshio
Y
Saito
Hirofumi
H
Yura
Takemi
T
Matsui
Bonpei
B
Takase
Hidemi
H
Hattori
Makoto
M
Kikuchi
Tadaaki
T
Maehara
D000818:Animals; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002686:Chitin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048271:Chitosan; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011817:Rabbits
D002686:Chitin; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D048271:Chitosan; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase