Biomedical coatings based on chitin soluble extract for inhibition of fungal adhesion to polymeric surfaces

Indwelling medical devices made of polymeric materials, such as intravenous (IV) catheters, are known risk factors for development of fungal infection, particularly systemic candidiasis, that are a significant cause of morbidity and lethality in compromised patients. Candida can form a biofilm on the polymeric surface, serving as a nidus for systemic, difficult to eradicate infection. The current research focuses on development and study of a chitin soluble extract (CSE) coating on polyurethane (PU), in order to reduce the level of adherence of C. albicans to the PU surface. The immobilization of CSE onto the PU surface was performed using both, chemical binding and physical adsorption. Our results indicate that CSE develops a unique tertiary structure in which basic elements in the range of 100 nm build "fingers" and these "fingers" are arranged in a concentric structure around a center. The CSE coated films showed 75% inhibition of C. albicans adhesion for the chemical binding and 83% for the physical adsorption coating and even after 11 weeks the inhibitory effect on adhesion is still significant. Hence, our new coatings may lead to a new generation of medical devices with surfaces that can prevent fungal adhesion.