Clinical investigation of use of an antimicrobial peptide hydrogel wound dressing on intact skin.

Edvin Blomstrand, Saba Atefyekta, Anand K Rajasekharan, Martin Andersson

Journal of wound care 2023 Jun 02

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A material with the ability to rapidly eradicate bacteria via a contact-killing mechanism has the benefit of a more localised treatment that is easy to implement when needed to prevent or treat a bacterial infection. Here, we present an antimicrobial material based on covalently attached antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to a soft amphiphilic hydrogel. This results in a material that exhibits an antimicrobial effect based on contact-killing. In this study, the antimicrobial efficacy of the AMP-hydrogel was investigated by observing the changes in total bioburden on the intact skin of healthy human volunteers when the AMP-hydrogel dressing was placed on the forearm for three hours. The AMP-hydrogel significantly reduced the bioburden on the skin from a mean value of 1200CFU/cm2 for the untreated skin to 23CFU/cm2. Biocompatibility evaluations of the AMP-hydrogel showed no sign of cytotoxicity, acute systemic toxicity, irritation or sensitisation, demonstrating the safety of the AMP-hydrogel as a potential wound dressing. Leachability studies confirmed no release of AMPs and that the antimicrobial effect was localised to the surface of the hydrogels, demonstrating a pure contact-killing mode of action.

Citation

Edvin Blomstrand, Saba Atefyekta, Anand K Rajasekharan, Martin Andersson. Clinical investigation of use of an antimicrobial peptide hydrogel wound dressing on intact skin. Journal of wound care. 2023 Jun 02;32(6):368-375