Biocompatible hydrogels from 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomer containing various amount of alginate in the presence and absence of hydrophilic methacrylic acid (MAA) were synthesized in order for biomedical application. The antimicrobial effect and interaction with proteins for hydrogels were investigated in this study. MAA was introduced because it was expected to increase the amount of water content in the polymer which is an important factor for biocompatibility, and alginate was expected to enhance the antimicrobial activity. The antimicrobial effect against S. aureus and E. coli increased for all hydrogels as the amount of alginate and MAA contained. Presence of MAA further enhances the antimicrobial effect. Amount of adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) increased with increasing concentration of alginate whether MAA was present or not. Contrarily, the amount of lysozyme was not affected with increasing alginate concentration in the absence of MAA, while it decreased in the presence of MAA.
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