Curcumin and Vancomycin loaded hydrogel coating medical device for prosthetic joint infections control

Due to higher life expectancy and to increased expectations of mobility in older age, the number of joint arthroplasties is rising worldwide. Periprosthetic Joint Infection is one of the most important complications of this surgical procedure due to the widespread resistance to antibiotics. Therefore, therapeutic strategies and innovative antimicrobial biomaterials are being developed to eradicate pathogens without inducing resistance and accelerating recovery. As part of our ongoing research on supramolecular photosensitizers systems, curcumin I (Cur) and vancomycin (Van) loaded DAC®-based (Defensive Antibacterial Coating, a hyaluronic acid and polylactic acid conjugate) hydrogel has been built on. This drug association demonstrated synergistic and additive effects to the single and established vancomycin loading due to the photoinduced broad antibacterial activity of Cur becoming promising for antibacterial photodynamic therapy (aPDT). To incorporate Cur in the hydrogel making it bioavailable in water, a cosolvent method was developed. Hydrogel was prepared and characterized by rheological evaluations and its erosion together with the drug release profile over the time evaluated in biocompatible medium. The nanohydrogel produced upon water dilution was characterized by AFM, DLS technique and UV/Vis absorption and emission spectroscopies. Superior Cur stability over pH-, solvent- and photo-induced degradations resulted in the DAC matrix. The photoinduced antimicrobial activity of Cur/Van-DAC against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE-fm) was evaluated finding good results against MRSA.