Prodigiosin-Loaded Poly(lactic acid) to Combat the Biofilm-Associated Infections

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is an emerging biobased implant material. Despite its biocompatibility and the aseptic procedures followed during orthopedic surgery, bacterial infection remains an obstacle to implementing PLA-based implants. To tackle this issue, prodigiosin-incorporated PLA has been developed, which possesses improved hydrophobicity with a contact angle of 111 ± 1.5°. The degradation temperature of the prodigiosin is 215 °C, which is more than the melting temperature of PLA, which supports the processability and sterilization of the PLA-based implants without any toxic gases. Further, prodigiosin improves the transparency of PLA and acts as a nucleation site. The spherulite density increases three times compared to that of neat PLA. The inherent methoxy group of prodigiosin is an active site responsible for the inhibition of bacterial attack and biofilm formation. The in vitro study on biofilm formation shows excellent inhibition activity against implant-associated pathogens such as Klebsiella aerogenes and Staphylococcus aureus.