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Coronary artery disease usually requires angioplasty-involving stents that help in keeping the artery open for proper blood flow. Such stents may present surfaces for colonization of biofilm forming bacteria thereby causing stent-associated infections. The purpose of this study was to provide anti-infective Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (PTFE) stents for the prevention of biofilm formation. Anti-infective mixture of synergistic drugs with biodegradable carrier, DL-lactic Acid (DLLA) was used to coat PTFE stents by means of dip-coating procedure. FTIR analysis of PTFE stent was used to determine the presence of bound anti-infective drugs. Antibacterial activity of anti-infective PTFE stents was determined qualitatively and quantitatively. In vitro challenge test was monitored to determine the persistence of drugs on anti-infective PTFE stent surface. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis showed two major peaks at 3101.64 and 1141.94 nm for the O-H stretching and .C=O stretching of COOH. Antibacterial activity was analysed by qualitative (Agar diffusion test) and quantitative (Bacterial adherence test) methods. The former showed largest inhibition zone for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (29 mm) and the latter confirmed that the number of adhered bacteria in drug-carrier coated stents (p<0.05) were less than the number of adhered bacteria in carrier-coated stents (p>0.05). In vitro challenge test clearly demonstrated that bacterial growth failed to develop even after three consecutive challenge doses. These drug-eluting stents could be of great interest for coronary stenting to prevent stent-associated infections if these results are confirmed in vivo.
