SUSTAINED ANTIMICROBIAL URETERAL STENT COATING USING A WITHANIA SOMNIFERA-SILVER NANOCOMPOSITE: AN IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIBIOFILM ACTIVITY AND DURABILITY

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate antibacterial coatings for ureteral stents to prevent urinary tract infections associated with stent indwelling. Withania somnifera and silver nanoparticles were developed as a novel composite and coated onto stent materials under laboratory conditions. The coated stents were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM); to evaluate the antibacterial activity qualitatively and quantitatively; to measure the anti-biofilm activity and to investigate the durability in terms of antibacterial activity. The coated stents on the qualitative assay demonstrated visible inhibitory zones confirming antimicrobial activity against clinical strains. In addition, quantitative analysis demonstrated a statistically significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the number of bacteria attached to the coated stent surfaces. No bacterial colonization was observed on the coated stents, even after the second challenge cycle (72 h), no challenge isolates were found on surface of coated stents as assessed by an in vitro challenge test. The in-vitro analysis of this system, which also demonstrated effective biocompatibility and favourable degradation characteristics of the in vitro analysis also demonstrated favourable degradation behaviour and controlled drug release characteristics suitable for antimicrobial ureteral stent applications combined with controlled drug release highlights some key requirements for future anti-infective ureteral stents. This approach enables the generation of high local drug concentrations at the target site while minimizing systemic exposure and the complete suppression of physiological bacterial proliferation through continual local release.