A scalable and universal strategy for constructing long-term antibacterial coatings with lubricant property on medical catheters

Abstract

Medical catheters might cause a high morbidity of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) because of the bacterial adhesion onto the surface. In addition, the inherent hydrophobicity of catheter materials exacerbates mechanical friction, leading to tissue damage. Therefore, coatings with integrated antibacterial and lubricative properties are appealing approaches to mitigate these challenges. In this study, a kind of polyurethane (PU)-based coatings were developed and prepared on medical catheters, which were modified with a cationic antibacterial agent, quaternized ammonium-modified methyldiethanolamines (QMDEAs). Due to the reaction among castor oil tertiary alcohols, isocyanates and QMDEAs, a polymer cross-linked network was fabricated, in which a hydrophilic polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), was added to form a semi-interpenetrating network. The structures of the coatings were regulated by adjusting the lengths of alkyl chain of QMDEAs, concentrations of pre-coated solutions, ratios of QMDEA:isocyanate, and parameters of preparation process. Among the coatings we prepared, PU-C10–46 possessed the optimized performances, which reduced the dynamic friction coefficient by 91.38 % and had the antibacterial efficiency of 99.9 % with good biocompatibility. The in vivo anti-infective properties of PU-C10–46 were also demonstrated by an infected animal model. Furthermore, PU-C10–46 was produced in an industrial equipment, and the large-scaled industrial products also had the same performances. This work could provide a promising strategy to deal with the challenges of medical catheter-associated infection.