Antibacterial activity of gentamicin-bonded gelatin-sealed polyethylene terephthalate vascular prostheses.

OBJECTIVES: To create an antibiotic-modified vascular prosthesis with a prolonged bactericidal activity, susceptible to endothelialisation.
METHODS: We used a covalent method of gentamicin sulphate immobilisation to polyethylene terephthalate prosthesis sealed with gelatin. Antibacterial activity was assayed in Luria-Bertani medium against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Prosthesis endothelialisation was performed using bovine aorta endothelial cells (BAEC).
RESULTS: Gentamicin was bound to vascular prostheses in the amount of 12g per kg of prosthesis. Ninety-seven percent of antibiotic bound in covalent way and remained on the biomaterial for at least 30 days during shaking in PBS solution. Gentamicin-modified prostheses exerted bactericidal or bacteriostatic effect on growth of clinical and reference bacterial strains, prevented biofilm formation and were highly susceptible to endothelialisation. BAEC viability exceeded 90%, which indicated that gentamicin-vascular prostheses were not toxic for these cells.
CONCLUSIONS: Covalent gentamicin immobilisation resulted in effective antibacterial protection of vascular prostheses against clinical and reference strains of S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa and allowed for a strong adherence of endothelial cells to antibiotic-modified prostheses.