Presenter: Marissa Badham, College of Science, Chemistry
Authors: Marissa A. Badham, RT Epperson, LL Peniata, RE Looper, PR Sebahar, TJ Haussener, HK Reddy, Dustin L. Williams
Faculty Advisor: Dustin Williams, School of Medicine, Department of Orthopedics
Institution: University of Utah
Biofilm-impaired tissue has been shown to significantly delay healing in chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers. Existing standard of care for chronic wounds include cleaning, debridement and antibiotic treatment. Currently marketed antibiotics (CMA) have mixed results, which may be due to gaps in research concerning the CMA’s against bacteria in the biofilm phenotype. To date, most antibiotics used to treat biofilm infected wounds have only been optimized for planktonic phenotypes. In this multi-phased study, in vitro and in vivo assessments were performed against planktonic and biofilm phenotypes to determine the potential efficacy of a unique first-in-class antibiofilm antibiotic. CZ-01179 (antibiofilm antibiotic) was formulated into a hydrogel to be used as a topical ointment. CMA’s used for comparison were purchased from a local pharmacy. Two strains of mature biofilms were grown by CDC biofilm reactors on bioabsorbable collagen in monomicrobial and polymicrobial biofilms. For phase 1 (in vitro) of the study, biofilm collagen coupons were used to test the efficiency profiles of the various treatment. Phase 2 (in vivo) consisted of both planktonic and biofilm inoculated back wounds in a diabetic pig wound model. Following 4 days of bacteria inoculation the wounds were treated with either CZ-01179 or a CMA for 14 days. 28 days post-op, the animals were humanely euthanized and tissue samples were collected for microbiology analyses. The efficacy profiles from phase 1 revealed that CZ-01179 gel was able to eradicate well-established biofilms more effectively than the CMA’s. This data correlated with the phase 2 animal model, which demonstrated a significant reduction of biofilm present in inoculated wounds treated with the CZ-01179 gel compared to the positive control wounds. In conclusion, CZ-01179 may be a promising topical agent for chronic wounds due to the ability to targets both the planktonic and biofilm phenotype.