Exploring triazene derivative's antimicrobial activity and its incorporation onto 3D-printed coatings

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a significant health concern demanding the urgent development of new active molecules. Furthermore, within healthcare settings, medical devices can be the cause of microorganisms’ proliferation leading to infection. Thus, nowadays the need for novel antimicrobial biomaterials is mandatory. In this work different 1,3-diaryltriazenes were synthesized for incorporation as antimicrobials onto 3D-printed hydrogel coatings for polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates used in the production of different medical devices. Symmetric and asymmetric aryltriazenes were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods. Antimicrobial activity was screened and the most active triazene was selected to be incorporated into the 3D-printed coatings that were further characterized by contact angle measurements, FTIR-ATR, SEM, drug release, antimicrobial activity, and cytocompatibility. The 1,3-bis (4-nitro-2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) triazene showed activity against Staphylococcus aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 1 μg/mL and revealed no cytotoxicity towards HaCat cells. 3D-printed hydrogel coatings (comprising chitosan/starch and sodium alginate) loaded triazene were successfully produced for PDMS substrates. Triazene coatings presented high wettability and smoothness and revealed antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity (i.e., 96 % reduction) towards S. aureus. Additionally, the produced coatings showed no cytotoxicity under the tested conditions. This study marks the initial proof that incorporating triazenes into 3D-printed hydrogel-based coatings can diminish biofilm formation on widely used biomaterials, such as PDMS surfaces. Herein achieved outcomes have allowed us to confirm and propose a novel type of hybrid construct as an antimicrobial hydrogel coating.