The management of corneal infections often requires complex therapeutic regimens involving the prolonged and high-frequency application of antibiotics that provide many challenges to patients and impact compliance with the therapeutic regimens. In the context of severe injuries that lead to tissue defects (e.g. corneal lacerations) topical drug regimens are inadequate and suturing is often indicated. There is thus an unmet need for interventions that can provide tissue closure while concurrently preventing or treating infection. In this study, we describe the development of an antibacterial bioadhesive hydrogel loaded with micelles containing ciprofloxacin (CPX) for the management of corneal injuries at risk of infection. The in vitro release profile showed that the hydrogel system can release CPX, a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug, for up to 24 h. Moreover, the developed CPX-loaded hydrogels exhibited excellent antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, two bacterial strains responsible for the most ocular infections. Physical characterization, as well as adhesion and cytocompatibility tests, were performed to assess the effect of CPX loading in the developed hydrogel. Results showed that CPX loading did not affect stiffness, adhesive properties, or cytocompatibility of hydrogels. The efficiency of the antibacterial hydrogel was assessed using an ex vivo model of infectious pig corneal injury. Corneal tissues treated with the antibacterial hydrogel showed a significant decrease in bacterial colony-forming units (CFU) and a higher corneal epithelial viability after 24 h as compared to non-treated corneas and corneas treated with hydrogel without CPX. These results suggest that the developed adhesive hydrogel system presents a promising suture-free solution to seal corneal wounds while preventing infection.

中文翻译：

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用于眼部应用的负载环丙沙星的生物粘附水凝胶。

角膜感染的治疗通常需要复杂的治疗方案，包括长期和高频地使用抗生素，这给患者带来了许多挑战并影响了对治疗方案的依从性。在导致组织缺陷（例如角膜撕裂伤）的严重损伤的情况下，局部药物疗法是不够的，并且通常需要缝合。因此，对能够提供组织闭合同时预防或治疗感染的干预措施的需求尚未得到满足。在这项研究中，我们描述了一种载有环丙沙星（CPX）胶束的抗菌生物粘附水凝胶的开发，用于治疗有感染风险的角膜损伤。体外释放曲线表明，水凝胶系统可以释放广谱抗菌药物 CPX 长达 24 小时。此外，所开发的负载 CPX 的水凝胶对金黄色葡萄球菌和铜绿假单胞菌（两种导致大多数眼部感染的细菌菌株）表现出优异的抗菌特性。进行物理表征以及粘附和细胞相容性测试，以评估 CPX 负载在开发的水凝胶中的效果。结果表明，CPX 负载不会影响水凝胶的刚度、粘合性能或细胞相容性。使用传染性猪角膜损伤的离体模型评估抗菌水凝胶的效率。与未处理的角膜和用不含 CPX 的水凝胶处理的角膜相比，用抗菌水凝胶处理的角膜组织在 24 小时后显示出细菌集落形成单位 (CFU) 显着降低，角膜上皮活力更高。这些结果表明，所开发的粘合水凝胶系统提供了一种有前途的免缝合解决方案，可以密封角膜伤口，同时防止感染。