This study proposes an alternative approach for the use of
chitosan silver-based dressing for the control of foot
infection with multidrug-resistant bacteria. Sixty-five bacterial isolates were isolated from 40 diabetic patients. Staphylococcus aureus (37%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.5%) were the predominant isolates in the
ulcer samples. Ten
antibiotics were in vitro tested against
diabetic foot clinical bacterial isolates. The most resistant S. aureus and P. aeruginosa isolates were then selected for further study. Three
chitosan sources were tested individually for chelating
silver nanoparticles. Squilla
chitosan silver nanoparticles (Sq. Cs-Ag(0)) showed the maximum activity against the resistant bacteria when mixed with
amikacin that showed the maximum synergetic index. This, in turn, resulted in the reduction of the
amikacin MIC value by 95%. For evaluation of the effectiveness of the prepared dressing using Artemia salina as the toxicity
biomarker, the LC50 was found to be 549.5, 18,000, and 10,000 μg/ml for
amikacin, Sq. Cs-Ag(0), and dressing matrix, respectively. Loading the formula onto
chitosan hydrogel dressing showed promising antibacterial activities, with responsive healing properties for the
wounds in normal rats of those diabetic rats (
polymicrobial infection). It is quite interesting to note that no emergence of any side effect on either kidney or liver biomedical functions was noticed.