ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1614509
This article is part of the Research TopicBiomacromolecule Systems for Enhanced Therapeutic Delivery in Medical ImplantsView all 7 articles
Drug Delivery System Based on an Antibacterial Layer-by-Layer Coating on Urinary Catheters: An Experimental and Simulation Approach
Provisionally accepted
Ruth Pulido1
Nelson Naveas2
Francisco Javier Ferna ́ndez-Alonso2
Miguel Manso Silvan2Leonardo Soriano2
Carlos Torres-Ulloa3Karel Mena3Gonzalo Recio-Sánchez4
Juan Paulo Garcia-Sandoval5
Jacobo Hernandez-Montelongo3*- 1University of Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile
- 2Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 3Temuco Catholic University, Temuco, Chile
- 4San Sebastián University, Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), Chile
- 5University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
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Urinary catheters (UCs) are critical in biomedical applications, but prolonged use increases the risk of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), a leading cause of -associated infections (HAIs). The present study presents a dual strategy to create an antibacterial surface on commercial Foley silicone UCs by combining a contact-killing effect with the controlled release of antimicrobial compounds. We designed a drug delivery system using a layer-bylayer (LbL) antibacterial coating of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and chitosan-silver (CHI-Ag) 1 Pulido et al.complexes, with ciprofloxacin (CFX) as the model drug. The resulting LbL coating, about 1 µm thick, incorporated Ag 0 and demonstrated a high capacity for CFX loading, releasing over twice the amount (70 µg/cm 2 ) compared to uncoated UCs (30 µg/cm 2 ). The antibacterial efficacy was significantly higher in the LbL-coated samples, particularly against S. aureus compared to E. coli. Drug release experiments, modeled using Fick's second law, indicated a diffusivity of 1.744 × 10 -5 cm 2 /h. Our mathematical model predicts how variations in drug loading and rest times impact release profiles. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations suggested strong compatibility between CFX and the LbL layers, though with relatively low stability. This dual strategy holds promise for reducing CAUTIs effectively.
Keywords: Drug delivery, Layer-by-layer (LbL), Antibacterial coating, Urinary Catheters, mathematical model, molecular dynamics
Received: 19 Apr 2025; Accepted: 08 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pulido, Naveas, Ferna ́ndez-Alonso, Manso Silvan, Soriano, Torres-Ulloa, Mena, Recio-Sánchez, Garcia-Sandoval and Hernandez-Montelongo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jacobo Hernandez-Montelongo, Temuco Catholic University, Temuco, Chile
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