Vivian Powers-Ramge

BIO-200-205

Professor Ahmed

Current News Article Report

Article information:

Title: Germ-fighting catheter coating may help prevent infections

Source: Science Daily

Date: March 7, 2019

Pages: 1-2

Biological engineers and infectious disease specialists from Brown University have

collaborated to develop an antibacterial catheter coating for intravascular catheters. This may

prevent intravascular catheter related bloodstream infections, which are a common cause of

hospital-acquired infections. Catheter related bloodstream infections have become a burden of

cost for not only the patients but, also for health care providers and hospitals due to the over-

consumption of medical resources (Lui et al., 2019). The new coating is made out of

concentrations of antibiofilm, polyurethane and auranofin, an antirheumatic drug and

antibacterial agent that is also shown to be highly effective in destroying methicillin-resistant

Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other harmful microbes. The effectiveness of polyurethane

and auranofin coating was tested by placing coated catheters in MRSA, using both solution and

agar plates. The coated catheters inhibited the growth of MRSA for up to 26 days and also

completely inhibited MRSA biofilm. The preliminary tests for toxicity results showed that the

polyurethane and auranofin coating had no adverse effects on both blood cells (erythrocytes) and

liver cells.
 The catheter coating is made by dissolving polyurethane and concentrations of auranofin

a solution. The solution then is deposited onto a catheter and the solvent of the solution is

evaporated, forming a stretchable polymer coating on a flexible catheter. The catheter coating

functions by allowing polyurethane (the drug carrier) to act as a barrier around auranofin to

extend the drug release profile and improve the antibacterial and antibiofilm effectiveness (Lui et

al., 2019). Depending on the drug concentrations during the coating process, the catheters were

able to inhibit the growth of MRSA for 8 to 26 days (Lui et al., 2019).

Once bacteria are present on a catheter, they can attach themselves and form a biofilm.

This process plays an important role in CRBSI pathogenesis, and when biofilms develop on

device surfaces, they can cause medical device failure and spread infection (Lui et al., 2019).

Eradication of biofilms can be challenging to due to mechanisms that bacteria develop to protect

against host defenses and increased resistance to antibiotic treatments. Researchers used

bioluminescence imaging to look for formed biofilms and experiments showed that the

polyurethane and auranofin coating prevented biofilm formation which is critical because

biofilms can be difficult to treat.

Localized delivery of auranofin has minimized offsite toxicity and lowered susceptibility

resistance (Lui et al., 2019). The preliminary tests for toxicity have showed that the catheter

coating had no adverse effects on human blood and liver cells, meaning they are

hemocompatible with human erythrocytes and are able to maintain liver cell viability (Lui et al.,

2019).

In the United States, approximately 150 million catheter intravascular devices are

implanted every year. The use of intravascular catheters can cause bloodstream infections, which

are called catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBIs). A bloodstream infection is when a

microbial pathogen is found in the blood, caused by infection. Symptoms include fever, chills,

low body temperature, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting (“Sepsis &

Septicemia”). Over 250,000 CRBIs have occurred every year in the United States and more than

80,000 have appeared in intensive care units (Shah et al., 2013). Catheter-related bloodstream

infections have become the most common source of nosocomial bacteremia (Lui et al., 2019).

Nosocomial infections can expand the length of hospital stay from 10 to 20 days and increase the

cost of hospital care from $4,000 to $56,000 (Shah et al., 2013). Most importantly, catheter-

related bloodstream infections are affiliated with mortality rates of 12-15% (Lui et al., 2019).

The Science Daily article, “Germ-fighting catheter coating may help prevent infections”

is a summary of published research article from Brown University. The article is well-written

and provides clear and direct information that was easy to follow along. The article includes a

opening summary that summarized the important information of the text and it also includes

quotations from multiple Brown University researchers, establishing credibility. Valid points

were made when the article made comparisons from other coatings with the polyurethane and

auranofin coating. The other coatings lose their effectiveness and raise concerns about antibiotic

resistance. The article included important information about how this catheter may be used in the

future, the coatings components were FDA approved, and concluded that the coatings could be in

process for in vivo testing. The article could improve by being more descriptive, I had to go to

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology research article “Auranofin Releasing

Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Polyurethane Intravascular Catheter Coatings” to seek for more

information regarding the growth of biofilms and health issues related to the CRBIs. Additional

information I would of like to have read was, why are blood infections serious? I would also like

to know the importance of biofilms and what are they? I think the article lacked a description of
how the polyurethane and auranofin work together to prevent bloodstream infections and prevent

the process of forming biofilms.

This article is relevant to my profession because as a future nurse I will have to insert

intravascular catheters into my patients. Since my medical classes in high school, I have learned

that catheters can increase the chances of an infection and that urinary catheters are a common

cause of nosocomial infections. As a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), I have learned how to

properly clean catheters and I’ve been trained on how-to put-on condom catheters on patients. It

very important to keep catheters clean because they can easily bring bacteria from the outside

world into the body, causing an infection. It was exciting to read this article because

polyurethane and auranofin catheter coatings have been able to prevent the growth of MRSA and

MRSA biofilms, this potentially means hospital-acquired infections will be reduced and hospital

stays will be shorter. For nurses this would be helpful because it would minimize the number of

patients, they need to take care of and potentially reduce the amount of catheter changes needed

since catheter coatings may potentially increase the length of catheter implantation.