A chemical method of gentamicin bonding to gelatine-sealed prosthetic vascular grafts

Our aim was to develop a new method of chemical binding of gentamicin to vascular prostheses made of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibres and covered with pig gelatine. We estimated (with the HPLC method) the immobilization yield, which equalled 76 or 8% depending on the concentration of the antibiotic used and the amount of gentamicin bound to the prosthesis (1.08-20.6 mg/g of prosthesis). The antibiotic was coupled in two modes: stable covalent binding or weak adhesion. The results confirmed that only a small quantity of the antibiotic (1.03-3.09%) was bound by adsorption. The modification of the prosthesis surface with immobilized gentamicin was visualized with a scanning microscope (SEM). Bacteriostatic properties of bound gentamicin were verified against different concentrations (cfu) of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus strains. We have found lack of growth of these pathogen strains in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium containing pieces of gentamicin-coupled prosthesis during at least 28 days of the experiment. Contrary to that, a control medium containing pieces of prosthesis only soaked with gentamicin allowed a constant growth of bacteria.