Bacterial adhesion to functionalized polyurethanes

The effect of fibrinogen and high molecular weight kininogen on bacterial adhesion to functionalized polyurethanes was studied. Glass slides were coated with different polyurethanes, including Pellethane, sulfonated Pellethane, phosphonated Pellethane, a zwitterionic phosphonated polyurethane, and quaternized amine polyurethanes. The polymer coated glass squares were exposed to radiolabelled S. aureus. When comparing adhesion to bare polyurethanes, it was found that adhesion was lowest on the phosphonated Pellethane and the the zwitterionic phosphonated polyurethane while highest on the methyl quaternized polyurethanes. Fibrinogen-mediated adhesion was studied by first exposing the polymers to increasing concentrations of canine fibrinogen before incubating them with S. aureus. All the polymers except the quaternized amine polyurethanes exhibited at least ten-fold increases in bacterial adhesion as the fibrinogen treatment concentration was increased from 0.0 to 10.0 mu g ml(-1). The quaternized amine polyurethanes maintained their relatively high amount of bacterial adhesion regardless of the fibrinogen concentration. The effect of two-chain high molecular weight kininogen (TCHMWK) on fibrinogen-mediated bacterial adhesion was assessed by exposing the polymers to 1.0 mu g ml(-1) fibrinogen followed by two different concentrations of TCHMWK. Decreases in bacterial adhesion were on all the polymers except the quaternized amine polyurethanes, which again retained their relatively high amount of bacterial adhesion.