Abstract
AIMS: Surgical site, soft tissue and wound infections are some of the most prominent causes of Healthcare associated infections (HCAIs). Developing novel antimicrobial textiles and wound dressings may help alleviate the risk of developing HCAIs. We aimed to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of natural Ugandan bark cloth derived exclusively from the Ficus natalensis tree.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Antimicrobial contact and disc diffusion assays, coupled with time-kill kinetic assays demonstrated that bark cloth inhibited the growth of a clinically relevant Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain and acted as a bactericidal agent causing a seven-log reduction in bacterial viability. Scanning electron microscopy was used to reveal morphological changes in the bacterial cell ultrastructure when exposed to bark cloth, which supported a proposed mechanism of antimicrobial activity.
CONCLUSIONS: The observed antimicrobial properties, combined with the physical characteristics elicited by bark cloth, suggest this product is ideally suited for wound and other skin care applications.
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This is the first report where a whole bark cloth product made by traditional methods has been employed as an antimicrobial fabric against MRSA. Bark cloth is a highly sustainable and renewable product and this study presents a major advance in the search for natural fabrics which could be deployed for healthcare applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2-10 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Microbiology |
| Volume | 131 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 28 Nov 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Jul 2021 |
Bibliographical note
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Funding
The authors wish to acknowledge technical support provided by Hayley Andrews (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) for assistance with Scanning Electron Microscopy and Derek Hebdon (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) for preparing bark cloth samples and textile evaluation. We also acknowledge Dr. Christopher Liauw for providing useful discussions regarding the physical properties of bark cloth, Jonathan Biddulph for assistance with fabric manipulation and Mark Pittendrigh for IT assistance.
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