A multimodel regime for evaluating effectiveness of antimicrobial wound care products in microbial biofilms.

Microbial biofilms have become increasingly recognized as a cause of wound chronicity. There are several topical antimicrobial wound care products available for use; however, their effectiveness has routinely been demonstrated with planktonic microorganisms. There is no target reference value for antimicrobial effectiveness of wound care products in biofilm models.

Effect on Microbial Growth of a New Skin Protectant Formulation.

Evaluate the effect of a new investigational skin protectant formulation on the growth of various microorganisms . An laboratory assay with various species of gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and yeast grown on agar plates was used to verify that a new investigational product used for the management of incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) does not support microbial growth. The investigational product did not support the growth of all organisms tested for 48 h in these assays.

Nitric oxide levels in wound fluid may reflect the healing trajectory.

We analyzed nitric oxide metabolites (nitrate and nitrite, NOx) and other biomarkers in human wound fluids and correlated these markers with wound healing status (progressing or worsening) based on patient's wound history. Samples were collected pre- and postcleansing from patients with wounds of various etiologies and analyzed for NOx, matrix metalloproteinase activity, and elastase activity. A laboratory method was developed to analyze NOx which can detect at least 5 μM in samples as small as 10 μL.