Catheter-associated infections (CAIs) caused by bacterial colonization are significant problems in clinics. Thus, effective antibacterial coatings for biomedical
catheters to prevent
bacterial infections are urgently needed. Ideal coatings should include the advantage of potent antibacterial properties and being easily and economically modified on the
catheter surface. Due to their advantages of adhesive capability on various substrates, an increasing number of coatings based on plant
polyphenols have been developed. However, the hydrophilicity of plant
polyphenols limits their utilization in coatings. Herein, hydrophobic
tannic acid (TA) was synthesized via the one-step electrostatic assembly of TA and
benzalkonium chloride (BAC) with the green
solvent water as the medium. The as-prepared hydrophobic TA (TBA) facilely formed a stable and colorless coating on the
luminal and outer surface of biomedical
catheters with broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and biocompatiblity. It was demonstrated that the TBA-coated surfaces displayed excellent bactericidal activity toward Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli), and more than 99% of the above bacteria were killed by the TBA-coated films. The test of the coated
catheters in vitro also showed the excellent antibacterial activity of both the outer and
luminal surfaces of the
catheter. Moreover, in an in vivo mouse model, the coated
catheters relatively prevented bacterial colonization compared to the uncoated
catheters. Meantime, no significant cytotoxicity and host response for Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and tissue compatibility in vivo were observed, indicating the better biocompatibility of the TBA coating. This preparation method overcomes the limitation of the traditional hydrophilic
tannic acid as a coating and provides a new method for preventing medical indwelling device-associated
infections.