Commercial soft contact lenses were chemically modified to incorporate antibacterial properties. Contact lenses and especially soft contact lenses present a risk of eye microbial infection that eventually may lead to vision loss. This is a significant health issue given the large population of contact lenses wearers worldwide. In order to introduce bactericidal activity in hydrogel contact lenses, one short and one ultrashort antimicrobial peptides, LKKLLKLLKKLLKL (LK) and IRIRIRIR (IR), were selected. These peptides were anchored on the surface of contact lenses using a linker (1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether) under mild conditions (room temperature, pH = 7.4). Physical and chemical properties of peptide-functionalized contact lenses were investigated through several analytical techniques including wettability, Raman confocal microscopy, fluorescence studies, refractometry and spectrophotometry. These studies demonstrated that contact lens modification occurred at the nanolevel (ng/lens). Bacterial cultures showed that peptide-functionalized contact lenses can drastically reduce bacterial adhesion and viability when exposed to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. These systems offer the potential to minimise corneal bacterial infection and represent a suitable platform for future ophthalmic devices.

化学软隐形眼镜经过化学修饰，具有抗菌性能。隐形眼镜，尤其是软性隐形眼镜存在眼部微生物感染的风险，最终可能导致视力下降。鉴于世界范围内大量的隐形眼镜配戴者，这是一个重大的健康问题。为了在水凝胶隐形眼镜中引入杀菌活性，使用了一种短和一种超短抗菌肽LKKLLKLLKKLLKL（LK）和IRIRIRIR（IR），被选中。在温和的条件下（室温，pH = 7.4），使用连接剂（1,4-丁二醇二缩水甘油醚）将这些肽锚定在隐形眼镜的表面。通过几种分析技术，包括润湿性，拉曼共聚焦显微镜，荧光研究，折光法和分光光度法，研究了肽官能化隐形眼镜的物理和化学性质。这些研究表明，隐形眼镜的修饰发生在纳米级（ng / lens）。细菌培养表明，当暴露于铜绿假单胞菌和金黄色葡萄球菌时，肽功能化隐形眼镜可大大降低细菌粘附和生存能力。这些系统提供了最大程度地减少角膜细菌感染的潜力，并为将来的眼科设备提供了合适的平台。