Cobalt containing antimicrobial bioactive glass coated urinary catheter towards management of catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI): Significant in vitro characterizations

Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) contributes to about 75 % of nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTI) and the risk potential is further escalated upon prolonged usage of the urinary catheter. Additionally, there is an increased risk for bloodstream infection from urinary source resulting in neutropenia and plethora of renal diseases. Over the past decades, numerous antibiotics/antimicrobial agents have been surface functionalized on catheter tubes but none proved effective owing to biofilm's tolerance. Further, in case of the indwelling urinary catheters, a thin fibrous capsule develops around the catheter, with no adhesion of the epithelial tissue. Additionally, recent reports of Co based bioactive glass exhibited potent antimicrobial action on both E. coli, P. aeruginosa (gram negative) and Candida albicans (fungus) which are primary causative organisms for CAUTI. In view of the above, we propose to fabricate a Co containing antimicrobial mesoporous bioactive glass (MBGCo) coated indwelling urinary catheter tubing, followed by its in vitro material (XRD, TG-DSC, FTIR, FESEM, BET and water contact angle determination), in-vitro bioactivity study and biological characterization (in-vitro cell cytotoxicity, antibacterial, antifungal studies, initial bacterial adhesion study etc.) of MBGCo coated urinary catheter tubing, along with antimicrobial studies and optimization of the same to obtain a preliminary prototype that is expected to address the issues of the existing urinary catheters.