Favorable Antibacterial, Antibiofilm, Antiadhesion to Cells, and Biocompatible Polyurethane by Facile Surface Functionalization.

It is of paramount importance to prohibit biofilm formation in a wide range of implant devices, such as thermoplastic polyurethane (PU)-based catheters. It is possible only by means of a multifunctional material that provides fast and effective antibacterial activity, proper biocompatibility, and low bacterial and cell adhesion. In this paper, a facile chemistry approach has been developed to modify biomedical-grade PU with PU species, containing reactive uretdione functional groups for functionalization with the contact-type polyguanidine bactericidal agent and oxidized dextran as an antifouling polymer without sacrificing the thermal and mechanical properties. The resulting PU possesses broad-spectrum contact-active antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria with fast kinetics. The excellent antifouling capacity was confirmed by low nonspecific protein adsorption and reduced adhesion of fibroblast cells by ≥ 90%. In addition to antiadhesive and antibiofilm properties, high cell viability (>90%) and low hemolysis rate (HR < 1%) verified favorable cytocompatibility. Hence, the strategy followed to functionalize PUs in this paper might be considered to modify PU-based biomedical devices.