Antibiofilm and Antimicrobial Efficacy of DispersinB®-KSL-W Peptide-Based Wound Gel Against Chronic Wound Infection Associated Bacteria

Purushottam V. Gawande, Kai P. Leung, Srinivasa Madhyastha

The medical importance of bacterial biofilms has increased with the recognition of biofilms as one of the major contributors to the slow or non-healing chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and pressure ulcers. Being a protected community of microorganisms, biofilms are notoriously refractory to antibiotic treatments. As the conventional treatment modalities have proven ineffective, this study provides the in vitro evidence to support the use of a novel combination of DispersinB(®) antibiofilm enzyme that inhibits biofilm formation and disperses preformed biofilm, and thus making the biofilm bacteria more susceptible to a broad-spectrum KSL-W antimicrobial peptide. The combination of DispersinB(®) and KSL-W peptide showed synergistic antibiofilm and antimicrobial activity against chronic wound infection associated biofilm-embedded bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), and Acinetobacter baumannii. In addition, the wound gel formulation comprising DispersinB(®), KSL-W peptide, and a gelling agent Pluronic F-127 showed a broad-spectrum and enduring antimicrobial activity against test organisms. Furthermore, as compared to commercial wound gel Silver-Sept™, DispersinB(®)-KSL-W peptide-based wound gel was significantly more effective in inhibiting the biofilm-embedded MRSA, S. epidermidis, CoNS, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, A. baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P < 0.05). Thus, this study provides promising evidence for the potential application of antibiofilm-antimicrobial DispersinB(®)-KSL-W wound gel in chronic wound management.