Silver-based wound dressings have been developed for the control of bioburden in wounds. However, the popularity and extensive use of silver-based dressings has been associated with emerging microbial resistances to silver. In this study we examined in vitro antibacterial efficacy of a bioelectric dressing containing silver and zinc against various wound pathogens. Antibiotic-sensitive clinical wound isolates showed a 100% reduction in bacterial growth, except that Enterococcus faecalis isolate was shown to survive with a bacterial log10 reduction rate of less than 102 CFU. We also investigated antibacterial efficacy against the extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) bacteria, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The bioelectric dressing was effective in killing wound pathogens including ESBL, MDR, and MRSA in vitro. Furthermore, based on the primary results against E. faecalis, we carried out extensive studies against several nosocomial Enterococcus species including vancomycin-resistant species. Overall, the vancomycin-sensitive or -resistant Enterococcus species were resistant to this dressing at up to 48 h, except for the vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus raffinosus isolate only showing a 100% bacterial reduction at 48 h, but not at 24 h. The results demonstrated the effective bactericidal activity of a bioelectric dressing against antibiotic-sensitive and MDR strains, but Enterococcus species are bacteriostatic.
The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the US Department of the Army, the US Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for Advancement of Military Medicine. The research was supported by the US Air Force medical support agency (AFMSA), office of the Air Force Surgeon General, USA.
In recent years several electrical wound management systems, so called electroceuticals, have been introduced claiming an induced electrical response in the wounded tissue. Some have external current and voltage sources while others have internal constructions aiming at creating necessary therapeutic currents. We investigate two representative electroceuticals by mapping out their electrical field landscapes using a previously developed skin model within a numerical simulation scheme. We find very strong fields from the electroceuticals of the order of 1 kV/m amenable for electrotaxic influence on pertinent cell types for wound healing. Current densities can locally be as high as 1 A/cm 2 .
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