Model antimicrobial polymer system based on poly(vinyl chloride) and crystal violet

Abstract

The development of novel antimicrobial materials for biomedical application in indwelling devices such as catheters is very important as the resistance of the pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections towards recent systems has been emerging with an increasing rate. The work presented here is focused on the preparation and characterization of an antimicrobial polymeric system composed of poly(vinyl chloride) in combination with crystal violet as a model compound of organic ionic active species. The antimicrobial activity of the system against gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and yeasts Candida albicans as the representative microorganisms were evaluated with a disk-diffusion test. The release profile of the active substance was observed with UV-VIS spectrometry. The mechanical properties of the prepared material were tested to verify that they were not altered with respect to the original medical-grade polymer matrix.