pH-Responsive antibacterial metal-phenolic network coating on hernia meshes

• Published in: Biomaterials science 2024-05, Vol.12 (1), p.273-2742
• Main Authors: Ding, Rui, Peng, Pandi, Huo, Jingjing, Wang, Kun, Liu, Pengxiang, Wu, Hanxue, Yan, Likun, Li, Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Coated Materials, Biocompatible - chemistry; Coated Materials, Biocompatible - pharmacology; Coating; Copper - chemistry; Copper - pharmacology; Herniorrhaphy; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Inflammatory response; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; Mice; Polypropylenes - chemistry; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcus infections; Surgical Mesh; Tannic acid; Tannins - chemistry; Tannins - pharmacology; Transplants & implants
• ISSN: 2047-4830; 2047-4849
• DOI: 10.1039/d4bm00289j

Polypropylene (PP) mesh is widely used in hernioplasty, but it is prone to contamination by pathogenic bacteria. Here, we present an infection microenvironment-responsive metal-phenolic network (MPN) coating, which is made up of Cu 2+ and tannic acid (TA) (referred to as CT coating), and is fabricated on PP meshes by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. The CT coating provided a robust protection for the PP mesh from pathogenic bacterial infection in a pH-responsive manner due to the pH-responsive disassembly kinetics of MPN complexes. Moreover, the PP meshes with ten CT coating cycles (PP-CT(10)) exhibited excellent stability in a physiological environment, with the killing ratio against "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at pH 5.5 exceeding 99% even after 28 days of PBS (pH 7.4) immersion. In addition, the PP-CT(10) exhibited excellent in vivo anti-infective ability in a rodent subcutaneous implant MRSA infection model, and the results of histological and immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that the reduced bacterial number alleviated the inflammatory response at implant sites. This study revealed that MPN coating is a promising strategy, which could provide a self-defensive ability for various implants to combat post-surgical infections in a pH-responsive manner. This work demonstrates that CT coatings would be a promising material against implant-related infection in a pH-responsive manner including but not limited to the field of hernioplasty.