Antimicrobial effect of medical adhesive composed of aldehyded dextran and ε-poly(L-lysine)

Infection of surgical wounds is a severe problem. Conventional tissue reattachment methods have limits of incomplete sealing and high susceptibility to infection. Medical adhesives have several advantages over traditional tissue reattachment techniques, but still have drawbacks, such as the probability of infection, low adhesive strength, and high cytotoxicity. Recently, a new medical adhesive (new-adhesive) with high adhesive strength and low cytotoxicity, composed of aldehyded dextran and ε-poly(L-lysine), was developed. The antimicrobial activity of the new-adhesive was assayed using agar media and porcine skin. In the agar diffusion method, inoculated microorganisms that contacted the new-adhesive were inactivated, but this was not dependent on the amount of new-adhesive. Similar to the agar media results, the topical antimicrobial effect of new-adhesive was confirmed using a porcine skin antimicrobial assay, and the effect was not due to physical blocking based on comparison with the group whose wounds were wrapped.