The dressing material of a wound plays a key role since bacteria can live in the bandage and keep re-infecting the wound, thus a bandage is needed that blocks biofilm in the bandage. Using an in vivo wound biofilm model, we examined the effectiveness of an organo-selenium (OS)-coated polyester dressing to inhibit the growth of bacteria in a wound. Staphylococcus aureus (as well as MRSA, Methicillin resistant Staph aureus), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were chosen for the wound infection study. All the bacteria were enumerated in the wound dressing and in the wound tissue under the dressing. Using colony-forming unit (CFU) assays, over 7 logs of inhibition (100%) was found for all the bacterial strains on the material of the OS-coated wound dressing and in the tissue under that dressing. Confocal laser scanning microscopy along with IVIS spectrum in vivo imaging confirmed the CFU results. Thus, the dressing acts as a reservoir for a biofilm, which causes wound infection. The same results were obtained after soaking the dressing in PBS at 37 °C for three months before use. These results suggest that an OS coating on polyester dressing is both effective and durable in blocking wound infection.
Keywords: anti-biofilm formation; dressing technology; organo-selenium; wound healing.