Plasma polymerized silylated ciprofloxacin as an antibiotic coating

Locally applied antibiotics under temporally controlled release present many advantages over systemic clinical treatments, e.g. efficiency and side effects. This can be achieved by a coating on top of the medical device, in which the antibiotic is stored. This study presents the use of plasma polymerization to produce such a coating using N,O-bis-tert- butyldimethylsilylated ciprofloxacin (silylciprofloxacin) as a precursor. Once exposed to physiological media, the outer layers of the coating release the antibiotic by a hydrolysis reaction. Thus, the plasma process parameters can control the speed of liberation through the coating polymerization. Besides, this study shows that the release products present antibiotic activity against a number of bacteria: E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus. Ciprofloxacin release dynamics can be controlled by coating plasma polymerization parameters, allowing local controlled delivery of active antibiotic in physiologic conditions, and thus higher efficiency and lower side effects.