Multilayer hydrogel coatings to combine hemocompatibility and antimicrobial activity

While silver-loaded catheters are widely used to prevent early-onset catheter-related infections [1], long term antimicrobial protection of indwelling catheters remains to be achieved [2] and antiseptic functionalization of coatings often impairs their hemocompatibility characteristics. Therefore, this work aimed to capitalize on the antimicrobial properties of silver nanoparticles, incorporated in anticoagulant poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-heparin hydrogel coatings [3] on thermoplastic polyurethane materials. For prolonged antimicrobial activity, the silver-containing starPEG-heparin hydrogel layers were shielded with silver-free hydrogel layers of otherwise similar composition. The resulting multi-layered gel coatings showed long term antiseptic efficacy against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis strains in vitro, and similarly performed well when incubated with freshly drawn human whole blood with respect to hemolysis, platelet activation and plasmatic coagulation. The introduced hydrogel multilayer system thus offers a promising combination of hemocompatibility and long-term antiseptic capacity to meet an important clinical need.