Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

The Combined Use of Gentamicin and Silver Nitrate in Bone Cement for a Synergistic and Extended Antibiotic Action against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria Jackson, John; Lo, Joey; Hsu, Eric; Burt, Helen Mary, 1954-; Shademani, Ali; Lange, Dirk (Microbiologist)

Abstract

Using bone cement as a carrier, gentamicin was for years the default drug to locally treat orthopedic infections but has lost favor due to increasing bacterial resistance to this drug. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of combining gentamicin with silver nitrate in bone cement against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Antibacterial effects (CFU counts) of gentamicin and silver were initially studied followed by studies using subtherapeutic concentrations of each in combination. The release rates from cement were measured over 10 days and day 7 release samples were saved and analyzed for antibiotic activity. A strong synergistic effect of combining silver with gentamicin was found using both dissolved drugs and using day 7 bone cement release media for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The cement studies were extended to vancomycin and tobramycin, which are also used in bone cement, and similar synergistic effects were found for day 7 release media with P. aeruginosa but not S. aureus. These studies conclude that the combined use of low loadings of gentamicin and silver nitrate in bone cement may offer an economical and much improved synergistic method of providing anti-infective orthopedic treatments in the clinic.

Item Metadata

Title
The Combined Use of Gentamicin and Silver Nitrate in Bone Cement for a Synergistic and Extended Antibiotic Action against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria
Creator
Jackson, John; Lo, Joey; Hsu, Eric; Burt, Helen Mary, 1954-; Shademani, Ali; Lange, Dirk (Microbiologist)
Contributor
Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2021-06-20
Description
Using bone cement as a carrier, gentamicin was for years the default drug to locally treat orthopedic infections but has lost favor due to increasing bacterial resistance to this drug. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of combining gentamicin with silver nitrate in bone cement against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Antibacterial effects (CFU counts) of gentamicin and silver were initially studied followed by studies using subtherapeutic concentrations of each in combination. The release rates from cement were measured over 10 days and day 7 release samples were saved and analyzed for antibiotic activity. A strong synergistic effect of combining silver with gentamicin was found using both dissolved drugs and using day 7 bone cement release media for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The cement studies were extended to vancomycin and tobramycin, which are also used in bone cement, and similar synergistic effects were found for day 7 release media with P. aeruginosa but not S. aureus. These studies conclude that the combined use of low loadings of gentamicin and silver nitrate in bone cement may offer an economical and much improved synergistic method of providing anti-infective orthopedic treatments in the clinic.
Subject
bone cement; gentamicin; silver; antibacterial synergy
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-07-21
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0400585
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79061
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Medicine, Faculty of; Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of; Other UBC; Biomedical Engineering, School of; Urologic Sciences, Department of
Citation
Materials 14 (12): 3413 (2021)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/ma14123413
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

CC BY 4.0