Antibacterial Nitric Oxide-Releasing Polyester for the Coating of Blood-Contacting Artificial Materials

The emergence of multidrug‐resistant bacteria associated with blood‐contacting artificial materials is a growing health problem, which demands new approaches in the field of biomaterials research. In this study, a poly(sulfhydrylated polyester) (PSPE) was synthesized by the polyesterification reaction of mercaptosuccinic acid with 3‐mercapto‐1,2‐propanediol and blended with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) from solution, leading to solid PSPE/PMMA films, with three different PSPE : PMMMA mass ratios. These films were subsequently S‐nitrosated through the immersion in acidified nitrite solution, yielding poly(nitrosated)polyester/PMMA (PNPE/PMMA) films. A polyurethane intravascular catheter coated with PNPE/PMMA was shown to release nitric oxide (NO) in phosphate buffered saline solution (pH 7.4) at 37°C at rates of 4.6 nmol/cm2/h in the first 6 h and 0.8 nmol/cm2/h in the next 12 h. When used to coat the bottom of culture plates, NO released from these films exerted a potent dose‐ and time‐dependent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and a multidrug‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. This antibacterial effect of PSPE/PMMA films opens a new perspective for the coating of blood‐contacting artificial materials, for avoiding their colonization with highly resistant bacteria.