In Vitro Cytotoxicity, Colonisation by Fibroblasts and Antimicrobial Properties of Surgical Meshes Coated with Bacterial Cellulose

Abstract

Hernia repairs are the most common abdominal wall elective procedures performed by general surgeons. Hernia-related postoperative infective complications occur with 10% frequency. To counteract the risk of infection emergence, the development of effective, biocompatible and antimicrobial mesh adjuvants is required. Therefore, the aim of our in vitro investigation was to evaluate the suitability of bacterial cellulose (BC) polymer coupled with gentamicin (GM) antibiotic as an absorbent layer of surgical mesh. Our research included the assessment of GM-BC-modified meshes’ cytotoxicity against fibroblasts ATCC CCL-1 and a 60-day duration cell colonisation measurement. The obtained results showed no cytotoxic effect of modified meshes. The quantified fibroblast cells levels resembled a bimodal distribution depending on the time of culturing and the type of mesh applied. The measured GM minimal inhibitory concentration was 0.47 µg/mL. Results obtained in the modified disc-diffusion method showed that GM-BC-modified meshes inhibited bacterial growth more effectively than non-coated meshes. The results of our study indicate that BC-modified hernia meshes, fortified with appropriate antimicrobial, may be applied as effective implants in hernia surgery, preventing risk of infection occurrence and providing a high level of biocompatibility with regard to fibroblast cells.

Bacterial cellulose: A comprehensive review

“…One study using osteoblasts and fibroblasts found no cytotoxicity when cells were seeded on a BC‐coated surgical mesh 96 . Another study using rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells found a viability rate of 94% when seeded on BC 97 . In both studies, surgical meshes were fully covered by BC, meaning that cells were not in direct contact with the implants but rather with the BC.…”

A Review of Advanced Abdominal Wall Hernia Patch Materials

“…[126][127][128] In recent years, the application of bacterial cellulose (BC) in the fabrication of advanced AWHPMs has been significantly attractive. [61,129,130] BC produced by bacteria (e.g., Komagataeibacter xylinus X-2 [59] ) has a linear structure comprised of beta-1,4-glucan chains. [129,130] Some studies have shown that exhibiting unique crystallinity and cohesion levels, BC-based patches provided a safe and efficient pathway in AWR, compared to cellulose.…”

Microbial Biofilms and Antibiofilm Agents 2.0

“…Development of appropriate drug delivery systems for conventional (e.g., antibiotics, antiseptic molecules) and unconventional antibiofilm agents is another direction to follow assiduously to make progress in our ability to control biofilms. Two articles of the collection deal with the use of bacterial cellulose (BC) as a delivery system for antibiofilm active molecules [ 9 , 10 ]. Such biopolymers are produced by numerous genera of bacteria and are emerging as promising candidates for the delivery of active pharmaceutical compounds due to their favorable physical, chemical and biological properties that include flexibility, high porosity, hydrophilic nature, small size, high polymerization degree, easy modification, biodegradability, and biocompatibility [ 18 ].…”

“…Such biopolymers are produced by numerous genera of bacteria and are emerging as promising candidates for the delivery of active pharmaceutical compounds due to their favorable physical, chemical and biological properties that include flexibility, high porosity, hydrophilic nature, small size, high polymerization degree, easy modification, biodegradability, and biocompatibility [ 18 ]. In the first article of the collection, the Authors chemisorbed BC with several antiseptic molecules, commonly used for the management of biofilm-associated wound infections, and evaluated the anti-biofilm activity of such dressings against a vast collection of strains involved in wound infections [ 9 ]. High levels of antibiofilm activity were recorded, especially when BC was functionalized with iodine povidone whose action was higher than that of a conventional broadly applied silver dressing, at least against some of the bacterial species tested.…”

“…In this context, the aim of this Special Issue was to gather a collection of papers focused on biofilm infections, and on the development of new antibiofilm agents to target them. A total of eight research articles and two reviews were collected disclosing new and interesting aspects on the physiology of bacterial biofilms [2], biofilm interaction with host cells [3], and innovative and promising approaches to prevent or eradicate microbial biofilms, not only in the medical setting [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] but also in the environment [11]. The contribution of Rahman et al [2] focuses on how the proteome of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms changes with aging compared with planktonic growth.…”