Alternative to Prevent and Combat Biomaterial-Associated Infections: Clinically Recognised Bacteriophage-Based Biopolymers

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation

Description

The application of biomaterials in medical devices is facing increased demand. Nonetheless, medical devices may serve as abiotic surfaces to be colonized by biofilm-producing bacteria, which commonly leads to biomaterial-associated infections. Such challenges as biofilm formation and widespread antimicrobial resistance to commonly used antibiotics have led to an emerging need for alternative strategies to overcome possible biomaterial-associated infection prevention and treatment failure. Our study aimed to evaluate clinically recognized biopolymers as carriers for bacteriophages to develop a potential system for targeted and controlled local delivery of antimicrobials, i.e., bacteriophages.. Three biopolymers, two commercial bacteriophage cocktails, and one host reference bacterial strain were used in the study. Both bacteriophage cocktails had their viral titer determined by plaque assay, from which plaque-forming units per milliliter were calculated for each phage stock. A repetitive bacteriophage propagation procedure was executed to attain a higher viral titer. High-titer phage stocks were incorporated into biopolymers. The release profile and stability of phages within bacteriophage-impregnated biopolymers were evaluated by performing a plaque assay after different incubation periods.. The bacteriophage propagation procedure was successfully applied to both commercial phage stocks resulting in increased viral titers. Regarding the preparation of bacteriophage-based biopolymer mixtures, characterization of the molecular structure revealed that the chosen sterilization method for biopolymer solutions was suitable. The data obtained showed that the viral titer of released bacteriophages varied among different bacteriophage/biopolymer mixtures and their texture properties over the study period.. Taken together, the present findings in our study suggest that clinically recognized alginate-based biopolymers can be considered promising carriers for alternative antimicrobials such as bacteriophages. However, further investigations and characterization of bacteriophage-based biopolymers should be of particular interest for developing clinically available and safe local delivery systems of bacteriophages from microbiological, biocompatibility, and materials science perspectives.
Period29 Mar 2023
Event titleRSU International Research Conference 2023: Knowledge for Use in Practice
Event typeConference
OrganiserRīga Stradiņš University
LocationRiga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

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