Coating of a surface with 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) co-polymer significantly reduces retention of human pathogenic microorganisms

The present study compares the retention of four species that are often isolated in association with biomedical device-related infections - Staphlylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans - to three different surfaces. All four bacterial species were found to bind significantly less well to MPC-coated surfaces than to non-coated surfaces. We attribute this effect to the "superhydrophilicity" of MPC-coated surfaces, whereas hydrophobic surfaces are well known to reduce bacterial retention and thus to inhibit a crucial step in the formation of bacterial biofilms that lead to biomedical device-related infections and complications. (c) 2005 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.