Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

100

Date

2010-07-27

Document Type

Thesis (Campus Access Only)

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Biomedical Engineering

Committee Chair

Warren O Haggard

Committee Member

Erno Lindner

Committee Member

Joel D Bumgardner

Abstract

Infections in wounds can cause many significant complications including delayed healing, morbidity and even death. An antibiotic loaded chitosan sponge can release the drug at a targeted therapeutic dosage. The objective of this project was to develop a chitosan sponge that can deliver both an antibiotic and antimicrobial directly to the site of the infected wound for an enhanced treatment. Elution studies were performed in PBS to determine the release profile of the selected antimicrobials and antibiotics from the loaded chitosan sponges. The eluates were tested in turbidity assays for inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to determine if the drug activity was retained through the elution. Finally, the cytotoxic activity of eluates was tested on Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts (NHDFs) by observing cell proliferation and viability. Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) was determined to be the most promising antimicrobial for this application. In combination with daptomycin or vancomycin, CHX was able to inhibit growth of S. aureus through three weeks. P. aeruginosa growth was able to be inhibited through five days with a combination of CHX and vancomycin, which was found to be more effective than CHX or vancomycin alone. The therapeutic agent combination also allowed for a lower dosage of CHX to be used, which may minimize potential issues with biocompatibility.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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