Eradication of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms in Wound Infection Models Using A Novel ML:8-Loaded Carbopol Gel.

Chronic wound infections present a significant healthcare challenge, which is compounded by the involvement of resistant biofilms, leading to increased patient morbidity and mortality. Traditional treatments often fail to eradicate biofilms of common chronic wound pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study is aimed at evaluating the antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy of ML:8, a fatty acid derivative, in clinically relevant models of chronic wound infections. The antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy of ML:8 was evaluated against monospecies and polymicrobial biofilms of varying maturity (1, 3, and 5 days old) in in vivo-like, in vitro wound models. ML:8 demonstrated effective eradication of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa biofilms, achieving significant (up to 4-log) reductions in bacterial load. A Carbopol gel formulation containing 10% ML:8 was used, enabling the release of ML:8. The antimicrobial efficacy of the gel was evaluated in an ex vivo porcine wound model, resulting in a significant reduction in biofilms. Furthermore, continuous subculturing experiments showed no development of resistance to ML:8 in vitro. These findings support the use of ML:8 in a gel-based delivery system as a promising approach for safe and effective management of chronic wound infections involving biofilms and antimicrobial resistance pathogens.