Surfactants: Role in biofilm management and cellular behaviour

Abstract

Appropriate and effective wound cleaning represents an important process that is necessary for preparing the wound for improved wound healing and for helping to dislodge biofilms. Wound cleaning is of paramount importance to wound bed preparation for helping to enhance wound healing. Surfactant applications in wound care may represent an important area in the cleaning continuum. However, understanding of the role and significance of surfactants in wound cleansing, biofilm prevention and control, and enhancing cellular viability and proliferation is currently lacking. Despite this, some recent evidence on poloxamer‐based surfactants where the surfactants are present in high concentration have been shown to have an important role to play in biofilm management; matrix metalloproteinase modulation; reducing inflammation; and enhancing cellular proliferation, behaviour, and viability. Consequently, this review aims to discuss the role, mode of action, and clinical significance of the use of medically accepted surfactants, with a focus on concentrated poloxamer‐based surfactants, to wound healing but, more specifically, the role they may play in biofilm management and effects on cellular repair.

Screening of Surfactants for Improved Delivery of Antimicrobials and Poly-Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid Particles in Wound Tissue

“…A synergistic effect of ciprofloxacin and the surfactant may be possible, even if the surfactants alone exhibited a very low antimicrobial activity. In fact, several reports underline the negative effect of surfactants on biofilm formation [ 20 , 51 ]. In particular, studies using a wound model based on ex vivo porcine skin showed a reduction of biofilm formation using a surfactant-based dressing and evidenced that the inhibition of biofilm formation greatly increased the activity of antimicrobials [ 52 , 53 ].…”

Defying hard-to-heal wounds with an early antibiofilm intervention strategy: wound hygiene

“…15,16,27 Based on the evidence and current state of practice, a well-planned and systematic approach to wound cleansing is needed to prepare hard-to-heal wounds for management. 28 The wound hygiene concept was developed to meet this need. It proposes that, to promote healing, the biofilm must be managed early with a strategy comprising: At times, these approaches will need to overlap.…”

Antibiofilm activity of Fmoc-phenylalanine against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial biofilms

“…Synthetic and natural surfactants have been implicated for inhibition and eradication of preformed biofilms. 18,21 They lower the surface tension and adhesiveness of biofilm with surface, loosen the matrix and disperse it. Previously, we showed that Fmoc-F also possess mild surfactant properties and ability to reduce surface tension.…”

“…16 Further, molecule with surfactant properties have been known to eradicate biofilm and enhance antimicrobial efficacy in biofilm. [17][18][19] Thus, present study is undertaken to investigate the effect of Fmoc-F on biofilm formation by clinically relevant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.…”