Orthopaedic implant-related infections are not only costly to healthcare systems, but affect patients the world over. Contributing significantly to these infections are bacteria residing in established biofilms of nature that contaminate open fracture sites either at the time of trauma or during subsequent surgery. In an attempt to fight and prevent these infections, directly and locally, antibiotic surface coatings of implants have been investigated. However, antibiotics continue to have significant limitations due to evolving antibiotic resistance by microorganisms, a lack of long-term elution properties from implant surfaces and, in many instances, a limited spectrum of activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Thus, novel antimicrobial coatings need to be developed for orthopaedic implants. Herein, we propose to investigate a novel antimicrobial - cationic steroid antimicrobial-13 (CSA-13) - which has superior broad-spectrum activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. We intend to use CSA-13 as a surface coating on orthopaedic fixation plates to prevent infection. To promote a strong infection signal in our experimental design, established biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus will be grown on coupons from the CDC biofilm reactor system, the latter provides a means to create standardized biofilms. The coupons will be inserted into a notch in the fixation plate on its underside and as a unit, the fixation plate/coupon will be placed directly onto the surface of the tibia of sheep. The evaluation of two sets of variables;CSA-13-coated or uncoated and biofilm-treated or untreated implants will determine if this novel antimicrobial coatings has the potential to fight and possibly prevent orthopaedic, biofilm implant-related infections. Furthermore, a second phase of the study will use tritium as a radiolabel on CSA-13 to determine the local and systemic effects of CSA-13 on tissue. By scintillation counting and histological analysis, the effects of CSA-13 on tissue and fracture healing will be determined. Taken together, the proposed experiments are designed to analyze first, the ability of the novel CSA-13 antimicrobial to fight and prevent orthopaedic implant-related infection promoted by a common orthopaedic pathogen, S. aureus, in an established biofilm and second, to determine if CSA-13 has detrimental effects on host tissue and end organs. We hope, by these means, to improve the orthopaedic trauma care of both civilian and military trauma patients.

Public Health Relevance

Orthopaedic implant-related infections are not only costly to healthcare systems, but cripple individual lives and may even lead to amputation. Evolving bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the limitations of antibiotics when used as implant surface coatings, require a new antimicrobial strategy for orthopaedic implants if infection and implant failure are to be avoided. Therefore, we propose the evaluation of a novel antimicrobial coating-CSA- 13-as a surface coating for implants to fight and prevent these infections. We hope this will give civilian and military patients a more sure way of avoiding infection in grossly contaminated wounds.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01AR057185-01
Application #
7644823
Study Section
Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Study Section (MTE)
Program Officer
Panagis, James S
Project Start
2009-03-15
Project End
2014-02-28
Budget Start
2009-03-15
Budget End
2010-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$338,625
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Utah
Department
Orthopedics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009095365
City
Salt Lake City
State
UT
Country
United States
Zip Code
84112
Williams, Dustin L; Vinciguerra, John; Lerdahl, Julia M et al. (2015) Does vitamin E-blended UHMWPE prevent biofilm formation? Clin Orthop Relat Res 473:928-35
Williams, Dustin L; Lerdahl, Julia M; Haymond, Bryan S et al. (2014) In vitro efficacy of a novel active-release antimicrobial coating to eradicate biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 58:2400-4
Sinclair, Kristofer D; Pham, Theresa X; Williams, Dustin L et al. (2013) Model development for determining the efficacy of a combination coating for the prevention of perioperative device related infections: a pilot study. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 101:1143-53
Williams, Dustin L; Sinclair, Kristofer D; Jeyapalina, Sujee et al. (2013) Characterization of a novel active release coating to prevent biofilm implant-related infections. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 101:1078-89
Williams, Dustin L; Costerton, J William (2012) Using biofilms as initial inocula in animal models of biofilm-related infections. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater 100:1163-9
Sinclair, K D; Pham, T X; Farnsworth, R W et al. (2012) Development of a broad spectrum polymer-released antimicrobial coating for the prevention of resistant strain bacterial infections. J Biomed Mater Res A 100:2732-8
Williams, Dustin L; Haymond, Bryan S; Beck, James P et al. (2012) In vivo efficacy of a siliconeýýýcationic steroid antimicrobial coating to prevent implant-related infection. Biomaterials 33:8641-56
Williams, Dustin L; Haymond, Bryan S; Woodbury, Kassie L et al. (2012) Experimental model of biofilm implant-related osteomyelitis to test combination biomaterials using biofilms as initial inocula. J Biomed Mater Res A 100:1888-900
Williams, Dustin L; Woodbury, Kassie L; Haymond, Bryan S et al. (2011) A modified CDC biofilm reactor to produce mature biofilms on the surface of peek membranes for an in vivo animal model application. Curr Microbiol 62:1657-63
Williams, Dustin L; Bloebaum, Roy D (2010) Observing the biofilm matrix of Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984 grown using the CDC biofilm reactor. Microsc Microanal 16:143-52