Wound care is of great importance because and it can be a burden for chronic wound treatments where infection control is necessary without usage of bacteria-resistant antibiotics. This work demonstrated the successful and inexpensive application of N-halamine technology onto wound dressings, which showed superior antimicrobial efficacies. Four N-halamine compounds with different functional groups and chemistry were synthesized. The synthesized compounds, which contained oxidative chlorine, the source of antimicrobial activity, were impregnated into or coated onto standard non-antimicrobial wound dressings. Surface characterization of the antimicrobial N-halamine treated dressings was effected by FTIR analysis. Zone of inhibition tests were performed to determine any leaching of the antimicrobials from the N-halamine-employed wound dressings. It was revealed that there was no significant release of the oxidative chlorine from the materials, and inactivation of bacteria occurred by direct contact. Shelf life stability tests showed that the dressings were stable to loss of oxidative chlorine when they were stored for 6 months. N-halamine-employed wound dressings inactivated about 6 to 7 logs of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in brief periods of contact time. In addition, the N-halamine treated dressings showed rapid inactivation rates when compared to commercially available silver alginate dressings. In vitro skin irritation of the MC-impregnated wound dressings was evaluated using a three-dimensional reconstructed human epidermal (RHE) model (EpiDerm™). No potential skin irritation, as indicated by 100% skin cell viability, was observed. The effect of N-halamine treatment of the wound dressings on cell survivability on the fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells was also evaluated, and no potential toxicity of the N-halamine compounds indicated that they did not inhibit cell viability. N-halamine wound dressings potentially can be employed to prevent infections, while at the same time improving the healing process by eliminating undesired bacterial growth.

Antimicrobial non-irritant wound dressings through N-halamine surface modification

255th National Meeting (2018)

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