Antibacterial Creams Containing Cationic Carbosilane Dendrimers for Wound Treatment

Skin wounds are an important factor in developing bacterial infection, especially for chronic wounds. In this case, the exposure to long traditional antibacterial-based treatments can lead to the appearance of resistance to these drugs. This situation makes the search for alternatives to attack these infections essential, as it is the use of cationic multivalent systems. Here, we discussed the antibacterial and biological properties of different cationic carbosilane (CBS) dendrimers against () and () as models of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively. Dendrimers are a type of multivalent molecule with a well-defined structure. The CBS dendrimers used in this work differ in several modifications that affect the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance, which is very relevant to achieve bactericidal activity. These structural changes are the position of a short alkyl chain, in the internal dendritic structure or on the outer ammonium groups, the presence of a polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain instead of a cationic function, or in the vicinal moieties of the cationic functions, sulfur atoms or sulfone units. The studies allowed the selection of some dendrimers, all of them with the inner long chain and trimethylammonium (-NMe₃ ⁺) groups, as active ingredients of a topical cream (water in oil, W/O). The antibacterial and biological properties of the creams were also tested against bacteria because it is the most common pathogen involved in skin infections. We observed different abilities of the dendrimers to be released from the cream, depending on the dendrimer structure, and as a consequence, different antibacterial properties of the creams. Finally, an analysis of the physicochemical properties of the best formulation was also done.