Development of Ciprofloxacin-Loaded Electrospun Yarns of Application Interest as Antimicrobial Surgical Suture Materials

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSI) occur very frequently during post-operative procedures and are often treated with oral antibiotics, which may cause some side effects. This type of infection could be avoided by encapsulating antimicrobial/anti-inflammatory drugs within the surgical suture materials so that they can more efficiently act on the site of action during wound closure, avoiding post-operative bacterial infection and spreading. This work was aimed at developing novel electrospun bio-based anti-infective fibre-based yarns as novel suture materials for preventing surgical site infections. For this, yarns based on flying intertwined microfibres (1.95 ± 0.22 µm) were fabricated in situ during the electrospinning process using a specially designed yarn collector. The electrospun yarn sutures (diameter 300–500 µm) were made of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) with different contents of 3HV units and contained ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CPX) as the antimicrobial active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). The yarns were then analysed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, and in vitro drug release. The yarns were also analysed in terms of antimicrobial and mechanical properties. The material characterization indicated that the varying polymer molecular architecture affected the attained polymer crystallinity, which was correlated with the different drug-eluting profiles. Moreover, the materials exhibited the inherent stiff behaviour of PHBV, which was further enhanced by the API. Lastly, all the yarn sutures presented antimicrobial properties for a time release of 5 days against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. The results highlight the potential of the developed antimicrobial electrospun yarns in this study as potential innovative suture materials to prevent surgical infections.

Thymol, a Monoterpenoid within Polymeric Iodophor Formulations and Their Antimicrobial Activities

“…such coated sutures can alternatively be utilized to prevent surgical-site infections due to their homogenous, antimicrobial coating [116,117]. The EDS analysis depicts carbon (53%), oxygen (40%), iodine (2%), copper (4%), and chlorine (0.3%), similar to the results of AV-PVP-Thyme-I2 (Figure 2c, Supplementary File S2) [42].…”

“…Coating a plain PGA suture (Figure 2a) with the title formulation AV-PVP-Thymol-I 2 leads to a homogenous, smooth PGA surface in the SEM (Figure 2b) [45]. Consequently, such coated sutures can alternatively be utilized to prevent surgical-site infections due to their homogenous, antimicrobial coating [116,117]. The EDS analysis depicts carbon (53%), oxygen (40%), iodine (2%), copper (4%), and chlorine (0.3%), similar to the results of AV-PVP-Thyme-I 2 (Figure 2c, Supplementary File S2) [42].…”

“…Surgical sutures play a pivotal role in closing open wounds during surgical procedures [42][43][44][45]116,117]. Particularly, PGA sutures are widely utilized in various medical contexts, including oral surgery [42][43][44][45]116,117].…”

“…Surgical sutures play a pivotal role in closing open wounds during surgical procedures [42][43][44][45]116,117]. Particularly, PGA sutures are widely utilized in various medical contexts, including oral surgery [42][43][44][45]116,117]. Resistant, opportunistic microorganisms or conditions conducive to microbial proliferation can result in surgical-site infections, which can impede the healing process [42][43][44][45]116,117].…”

“…Particularly, PGA sutures are widely utilized in various medical contexts, including oral surgery [42][43][44][45]116,117]. Resistant, opportunistic microorganisms or conditions conducive to microbial proliferation can result in surgical-site infections, which can impede the healing process [42][43][44][45]116,117]. The application of antimicrobial coatings has been explored to mitigate the occurrence of surgical-site infections, thereby facilitating wound closure and alleviating patient discomfort [42][43][44][45]116,117].…”