Investigating bacterial adhesion behaviour on bone surface mimicked chitosan membranes

An extremely serious post-op consequence of orthopedic replacement surgery is infection, which is currently challenging to treat with antibiotics. According to data, prosthesis infections correlate with biofilm formation that is highly resilient to host immune defenses and antibiotics. The main goal of this thesis is to examine the relationship between topography and surface-cell and surface-bacteria interactions. The secondary objective is to determine whether it is possible to chemically alter implant surfaces and their topographical features to maximize cell-implant interactions while minimizing bacterial-implant interactions. Physicochemical characterization for Graphene Oxide (GO) coated bone surface mimicked Chitosan (BSM-CH-GOc) loaded ampicillin sodium salt (Amp) or Tetracycline hydrochloride (Tetra) membranes were done via degradation test, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and drug release study. For cell study, mouse fibroblast (L929) was selected as a model mammalian cell line. Bacterial behavior on these membranes was investigated using the biofilm growth test. The rate of biofilm production was assessed and utilized as an indication in which Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) were utilized as model organisms. It was found that while GO coated bone surface mimicked chitosan membranes had a noticeable effect on preventing bacterial biofilm formation, the presence of ampicillin sodium salt and tetracycline hydrochloride remarkably reduced the biofilm formation compared to the control groups. Keywords: Surface-cell interactions, Surface-bacteria interactions, Chitosan, Ampicillin, Tetracycline