Cold atmospheric plasma-activated composite hydrogel for an enhanced and on-demand delivery of antimicrobials

Gaur, N. et al. (2023) Cold atmospheric plasma-activated composite hydrogel for an enhanced and on-demand delivery of antimicrobials. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 15(16), pp. 19989-19996. (doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c01208) (PMID:37040527) (PMCID:PMC10141252)

Abstract

We present the concept of a versatile drug-loaded composite hydrogel that can be activated using an argon-based cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) jet to deliver both a drug and CAP-generated molecules, concomitantly, in a tissue target. To demonstrate this concept, we utilized the antibiotic gentamicin that is encapsulated in sodium polyacrylate (PAA) particles, which are dispersed within a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel matrix. The final product is a gentamicin-PAA-PVA composite hydrogel suitable for an on-demand triggered release using CAP. We show that by activating using CAP, we can effectively release gentamicin from the hydrogel and also eradicate the bacteria effectively, both in the planktonic state and within a biofilm. Besides gentamicin, we also successfully demonstrate the applicability of the CAP-activated composite hydrogel loaded with other antimicrobial agents such as cetrimide and silver. This concept of a composite hydrogel is potentially adaptable to a range of therapeutics (such as antimicrobials, anticancer agents, and nanoparticles) and activatable using any dielectric barrier discharge CAP device.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The authors would like to thank the UK EPSRC grant references EP/V00462X/1 and EP/R003939/1 and an EPSRC IAA award. B.L.P. would also like to thank the James Tudor Foundation for funding her research.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ramage, Professor Gordon and Short, Mr Bryn
• Authors: Gaur, N., Patenall, B. L., Ghimire, B., Thet, N. T., Gardiner, J. E., Le Doare, K. E., Ramage, G., Short, B., Heylen, R. A., Williams, C., Short, R. D., and Jenkins, T. A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > Dental School
• Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• ISSN: 1944-8244
• ISSN (Online): 1944-8252
• Published Online: 11 April 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 15(16): 19989-19996
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License