Infection/Inflammation

Controlled antibiotic-releasing
Antheraea assama silk fibroin suture
for infection prevention and fast
wound healing
Arup Jyoti Choudhury, PhD,a Dolly Gogoi, PhD,b Joyanti Chutia, PhD,b Raghuram Kandimalla,
MPharm,c Sanjeeb Kalita, MSc,c Jibon Kotoky, PhD,c Yogesh B. Chaudhari, MSc,d Mojibur R. Khan,
PhD,d and Kasturi Kalita, DCP,e Assam, India

Background. The quest for developing silk fibroin as a biomaterial for drug release systems continues to
draw research interest owing to its impressive mechanical properties as well as biocompatibility and
biodegradability. The aim of this study is to develop low-temperature O2 plasma-treated muga (Antheraea
assama) silk fibroin (AASF) yarn impregnated with amoxicillin trihydrate as controlled antibiotic-releasing
suture (AASF/O2/AMOX) for preventing postoperative site bacterial infection and fast wound healing.
Methods. In this experimental study, AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX sutures are used to close the surgical
wounds of adult male Wistar rats of 4 months old and weighing 200–230 g.
Results. Surface hydrophilicity induced by O2 plasma results in an increase in drug-impregnation ef-
ficiency of AASF/O2 yarn by 16.7%. In vitro drug release profiles show continuous and prolonged
release of AMOX from AASF/O2/AMOX yarn up to 336 hours. In vitro hemolysis assay reveals that O2
plasma treatment and subsequent impregnation of AMOX do not affect the heertetmocompatibility of
AASF yarn. The AASF/O2/AMOX yarn proves to be effective for in vitro growth inhibition of Staph-
ylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, whereas AASF offers no antibacterial activity against both
types of bacteria. In vivo histopathology studies and colony-forming unit count data revealed accelerated
wound healing activity of AASF/O2/AMOX over AASF yarn through rapid synthesis and proliferation
of collagen, hair follicle, and connective tissues.
Conclusion. Outcomes of this work clearly demonstrate the potential use of AASF/O2/AMOX yarn as a
controlled antibiotic-releasing suture biomaterial for superficial surgical applications. (Surgery
2016;159:539-47.)

From the Department of Physics,a Tezpur University; the Physical Sciences Division,b Drug Discovery Labo-
ratoryc, Molecular Biology and Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory,d Institute of Advanced Study in Science
and Technology; and the Department of Pathology,e Hayat Hospital, Assam, India

BACTERIAL INFECTION at the site of surgical incisions
continues to be a challenging problem in
providing high-quality health care.1,2 For promot-
ing postoperative bacterial infection, sutures of
Sources of financial support: No internal or external financial
support was used for this report.
Disclosures: The authors have no conflicts of interest or finan-
cial ties to disclose.
Accepted for publication July 10, 2015.
Reprint requests: Arup Jyoti Choudhury, PhD, Department of
Physics, Tezpur University, Napaam, Sonitpur-784028, Assam,
India. E-mail: arupjchoudhury@gmail.com.
0039-6060/$ - see front matter
Ó 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2015.07.022
either natural or synthetic origin are considered
the major cause, because they are susceptible to
bacterial attachment and colonization and can
provoke excessive inflammatory response in the
host tissues.3,4 As a result, the surrounding tissues
at the wound site are vulnerable to infection, delay-
ing wound healing activities. To prevent postoper-
ative bacterial infection, sutures can be either
coated with an antibacterial agent or used as mate-
rial for control release of antibiotic drugs. Develop-
ment of antibacterial sutures for preventing
postoperative wound infections has been reported
and investigated in detail.3,4 However, less progress
has been made in developing antibiotic-releasing
sutures that can sustain controlled release of

SURGERY 539
540 Choudhury et al
drug locally to the incised wound, thus removing
the need for repeated systemic doses and acceler-
ating the wound healing process.
Mulberry silk, Bombyx mori silk fibroin (BMSF) has
been widely characterized and used as suture for cen-
turies.5 Compared with BMSF, non–mulberry silk,
Antherarea assama silk fibroin (AASF) exhibits better
biocompatibility and mechanical strength, yet less
research has been initiated for its utilization in
different biomedical applications.6,7 It has been re-
ported that AASF scaffold can be used as microarch-
itecture for tissue engineering, whereas plasma-
induced polypropylene-grafted AASF may find
promising application as a suture material.6,7 To
achieve faster healing of postoperative wound,
AASF can be further developed as a controlled
antibiotic-releasing suture. However, the hydropho-
bic nature of AASF prevents its development as a su-
ture for a controlled drug release system.
The present work aims at imparting surface
hydrophilicity to AASF yarn using low-temperature
O2 plasma (AASF/O2) for developing it as an
antibiotic-releasing suture to prevent postoperative
bacterial infections and fast wound healing.
In vitro drug release behavior, antibacterial activity,
and hemocompatibility of antibiotic-releasing
AASF/O2 suture are further investigated in detail.
In this work, amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) is
chosen as antibiotic drug owing to its broad spec-
trum antibacterial activities.8
METHODS
Multifilament AASF yarn is extracted from
muga silk cocoons (Central Silk Board, India)
using degumming process as described.9 O2 gas
(purity, 99.995%) is used for plasma generation
and surface modification of AASF yarn. AMOX
(potency $900 mg/mg) was purchased from
Sigma-Aldrich and used as received.
Surface modification of AASF yarn by O2 plasma is
carried out in a stainless steel horizontal cylindrical
chamber of 30 cm diameter and 100 cm length.
The pressure inside the vacuum chamber is main-
tained at 1 3 10
3 mbar and measured by a capaci-
tance manometer, and the flow rate of O2 is
monitored by mass flow controller. The AASF yarn
is placed on the surface of the RF electrode and O2
is introduced into the chamber through a gas shower
plate. In the present wok, surface treatment of AASF
yarn is carried out for 30 seconds at RF power value of
5 W and working pressure of 2 3 10
1 mbar.
The dynamic contact angles on AASF and
AASF/O2 yarns are measured by tensiometer
(Data physics, DCAT-11, Filderstadt, Germany)
Surgery
February 2016
with an accuracy of ±0.018. The contact angles on
the samples are determined using Wilhelmy tech-
nique and the surface-free energies are evaluated
by the Owens-Wendt-Rabel and Kaeble (OWRK)
method.10,11 Field emission scanning electron mi-
croscope (Carl Zeiss, SIGMAVP, Japan) is used to
observe the surface morphologies of the samples.
UV-visible spectra are recorded with a spectropho-
tometer (Shimadzu, UV 1800, Japan) having wave-
length accuracy of ±0.1 nm.
Antibiotic drug impregnation. The procedure
describing impregnation of AMOX on AASF/O2
yarn is shown in Fig 1. Briefly, 1 mg of AMOX is dis-
solved in 20 mL of deionized water. Equal lengths
each of AASF and AASF/O2 yarn are immersed
separately in AMOX solutions for 24 hours and
dried in vacuum. The percentage of drug impregna-
tion is calculated using the following formula12:
 
W1
W2
Drug impregnation ð%Þ ¼ 3 100 ð1Þ
W3
where W1 the total weight of AMOX dissolved in
deionized water, W2 is the total weight of remain-
ing AMOX in deionized water after removal of
AASF/O2 yarn, and W3 is the total weight of
AASF/O2/AMOX yarn. W2 is calculated from con-
centration values obtained from the calibration
curve on UV spectrophotometric analysis of the
samples. The percentage of drug impregnation
calculated from equation (1) is found to be
16.7% for AASF/O2/AMOX yarn, whereas no
impregnation of AMOX on AASF yarn is observed.
Antibiotic drug release. The release profile of
AMOX from AASF/O2/AMOX is assessed in a
buffer of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS;
150 mmol/L; pH 7.4). At specific incubation
time intervals, an aliquot (3 mL) of drug release
medium is removed and replaced with same
amount of fresh PBS. The amount of AMOX
released to PBS is determined by measuring the
absorbance at specific wavelength (226 nm) with
an UV-visible spectrophotometer and comparing
to the predetermined calibration curve. The cu-
mulative release (%) profile of AMOX is evaluated
using Peppas-Korsmeyer’s equation13:
ft ¼ k  t n ð2Þ
where ft is the fractional amount of drug
released to the PBS medium, k is the release con-
stant, n is the release exponent, and t is the time
of drug release.
Antibacterial test. Antibacterial activities of
AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns are evaluated
Surgery
Volume 159, Number 2
Fig 1. Impregnation of amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) onto the surface of low temperature O2 plasma treated muga
(Antheraea assama) silk fibroin (AASF/O2) yarn.
against S aureus (ATCC-12600) and E coli (ATCC-
25922) using standard agar diffusion test. The
bacteria are first inoculated into lysogeny broth
medium and kept in an incubator at 378C. Nutrient
agar plates are prepared and a layer of bacteria is
placed on the plate with sterile cotton swab. The
samples are carefully placed on the agar plate us-
ing a sterilized forceps. The plates are then incu-
bated at 378C for 24 hours and the antagonistic
activities of the samples are qualitatively evaluated
using the zone of inhibition method.
Hemolysis assay. Sodium citrate (3.8%) stabi-
lized blood (10 mL) is obtained from a healthy
human volunteer. The blood is collected in sili-
conized vials and the test is performed within
3 hours after collection. AASF, AASF/O2, and
AASF/O2/AMOX yarns are separately incubated
for 1 hour at 378C in siliconized tubes each con-
taining 10 mL of blood (diluted with PBS in 1:9
ratio). The absorbance of the supernatant is
measured at 545 nm in a UV-visible spectropho-
tometer. The percentage of hemolysis is calculated
as follows14:

24 hours of incubation at 28 ± 28C. All results are
Abssample
Abs
ve control
Hemolysisð%Þ ¼
ðAbsþve control
Abs
ve control Þ
Surgical protocol. Eighteen adult male Wistar
rats of 4 months old and weighing 200–230 g are
randomly divided into 3 groups of 6 animals each.
The animal are housed in polypropylene cages and
kept at 248C, with a 12:12-hour dark:light cycle.
The animals are provided free access to standard
pellet diet and water throughout the experimental
protocol. The animals are anesthetized by keta-
mine hydrochloride (80 mg/kg) and xylaxin
(10 mg/kg) injection intramuscularly. Before the
operation, the dorsal region of the animals is
shaved and cleaned properly as a full-thickness
longitudinal incision wound of ; 25 mm long is
made with a sterilized scalpel. The treatment
Choudhury et al 541
schedule for each group of animals is presented
in Fig 2. In addition, a group of 6 noninoculated
animals is taken as controls for comparison. The
experimental protocol is approved by the Institu-
tional Animal Ethics Committee, Institute of
Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwa-
hati, India (CPCSEA/44/2014).
On postoperative day 14, the animals are hu-
manely killed by inhalation of chloroform. After
careful dissection, tissue specimens are collected
from the incised wound. The specimens are fixed
in 10% neutral buffered formaldehyde, embedded
in paraffin wax, cut into 5 mm thickness, and
stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Stained spec-
imen slides are examined under light microscope
for histopathological changes. The incised wounds
of all animals in each group are inoculated with S
aureus 24 hours postoperatively. On postoperative
days 3, 7, and 14, tissue samples from the wounds
are excised, pulverized, and homogenized in
sterile PBS. Samples are diluted and plated on
Saubourgaurd dextrose agar to tally the colony-
forming unit (CFU) count of S aureus grown after
3 100 normalized based on excised tissue weight.15
ð3Þ RESULTS
Surface properties. The water contact angle and
corresponding surface energy of AASF are evalu-
ated to be 98.8 ± 1.88 and 12.6 ± 1.1 mN/m2,
whereas for AASF/O2 the observed values are
found to be 25.1 ± 0.78 and 22.8 ± 1.7 mN/m2,
respectively. The results show that O2 plasma treat-
ment of AASF yarn results in lowering in water con-
tact angle by ;75% and subsequent increase in
surface energy by ;81%. In addition, O2 plasma
treatment leads to an increment in surface energy
of polar components in AASF yarn from 8.2 ± 0.6
to 17.2 ± 1.5 mN/m2.
Field emission scanning electron microscope
(FESEM) micrographs of AASF and AASF/O2/
AMOX yarns are shown in Fig 3, A, B, and those
542 Choudhury et al Surgery
February 2016

Fig 2. Animals inoculated with Streptococcus aureus into different groups depending on postoperative treatment pro-
cesses. The noninoculated group of animals is taken as control. AASF, muga (Antheraea assama) silk fibroin; AMOX,
amoxicillin trihydrate.

Fig 3. Field emission scanning electron microscope images of (A) muga (Antheraea assama) silk fibroin (AASF) and (B)
AASF/O2/amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) yarns. Scale bar = 200 nm (original magnification, 350,000). Insets represent
an original magnification of 35000 with a 2-mm scale bar.

with lower magnification are shown in insets. The
surface of AASF yarn is observed to be smooth
and uniform. However, after O2 plasma treatment,
surface roughness in the form of nanopits and
voids can be seen on AASF/O2/AMOX yarn. As
observed from insets, the presence of AMOX in
the gaps between fibers comprising AASF/O2
yarn possibly indicates the penetration of AMOX
to the core of the yarn.
In vitro drug release. The absorption versus
concentration curve corresponding to AMOX and
the cumulative percentage of AMOX released are
shown in Fig 4, A, B. Burst release of AMOX from
AASF/O2 yarn (55 ± 1.1%) is observed within
12 hours. Over the first 24 hours, the percentage
release of AMOX is found to be 64 ± 1.8%. With
increases in incubation time beyond 24 hours,
the release of AMOX becomes slow and steady. Af-
ter time of 300 hours, the slope of the curve rea-
ches a plateau at 100%.
Antibacterial and blood compatibility studies.
The typical images showing antibacterial activities
of AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns against S
aureus and E coli and the corresponding sizes of
the zone of inhibition (Lz) are shown in Fig 5,
A–D. The surface morphologies of the samples
are investigated using FESEM and typical images
are shown in Fig 5, E–H. The AASF yarn is
observed to exhibit no antibacterial activity against
both bacteria. However, AASF/O2/AMOX yarn
Surgery Choudhury et al 543
Volume 159, Number 2

Fig 4. (A) Calibration curve of amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) concentration in phosphate-buffered saline versus absor-
bance (Abs) and (B) plot of the cumulative release (%) of AMOX in PBS as a function of time. Values represent
mean ± standard deviation of 3 batches. (Some error bars are too small to be shown).

Fig 5. Antibacterial activities of muga (Antheraea assama) silk fibroin (AASF) and AASF/O2/amoxicillin trihydrate
(AMOX) yarns against Streptococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Representative sample agar plates show no zone of inhi-
bition (LZ) of (A), (C) AASF yarn against S aureus and E coli. In contrast, clear zone of inhibition can be observed for
(B), (D) AASF/O2/AMOX yarn against S aureus and E coli. Values represent mean ± standard deviation of 2 batches.
Typical field emission scanning electron microscope images show surface morphologies of (E), (G) AASF and (F),
(H) AASF/O2/AMOX yarns. (Scale bar = 1 mm; original magnification, 310,000).

exhibits strong antibacterial activity against both S
aureus and E coli.
Fig 6, A, B, shows hemolytic activities of AASF
and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns against human eryth-
rocytes. The hemolysis (%) for AASF (0.48%)
and AASF/O2/AMOX (0.12%) yarns are well
below the permissible limit (5%) for hemocompat-
ible biomaterials.16
Postoperative observations. Fig 7 shows the
wound healing activities of the control group,
and treatment groups A, B, group C animals on
postoperative days 3, 5, 7, and 14. In the control
group, the incised wounds show no signs of inflam-
mation and bacterial infection up to 7 days of post-
operative period. On day 14, minor inflammation
and presence of purulent discharge are observed
in and around the incised wounds, indicating bac-
terial infection (Fig 7, E). The details of healing
activities of groups A, B, and C animals at different
postoperative periods are presented in the Table.
No difference in the behavior of all animals in
each group was seen during the observation
period. In addition, careful observation revealed
that the incised wounds of all animals in each
group have similar physical appearance (Table).
Postinfection CFU count data obtained from
in vivo surgical experiment indicates comparatively
more reduction of S aureus in the incised wounds
sutured by AASF/O2 and AASF/O2/AMOX than
AASF suture (Fig 8, A). The greatest decrease in
CFU count can be observed in the incised wound
sutured by AASF/O2/AMOX yarn. The histopath-
ologic examination of skin tissue collected from
the incised wounds of group A animals on day 14
shows fragments of degenerated tissue with foci
of adipose tissue, widespread areas of necrosis
544 Choudhury et al Surgery
February 2016

Fig 6. Hemocompatibility studies of muga (Antheraea assama) silk fibroin (AASF) and AASF/O2/amoxicillin trihydrate
(AMOX) yarns against human erythrocytes. Blood diluted with phosphate-buffered saline (1:9 ratio), without sample, is
taken as negative control, whereas blood diluted with distilled water (1:9 ratio), without sample, is taken as positive con-
trol. (A) Hemolytic test on AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns and (B) hemolysis (%) of red blood cells after incubation
of blood with AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns. Values represent mean ± standard deviation of 3 batches.
ve, nega-
tive; +ve, positive.

and dead cells and no signs of tissue regeneration
(Fig 8, B). The skin tissue collected from the
wounds of group B animals shows fragments of
skin tissue lined by atrophic epidermis with flat-
tened rete ridges (Fig 8, C). As observed in Fig 8,
D, the incised wound sutured with AASF/O2/
AMOX shows presence of fibro collagenase subepi-
dermal tissue with normal skin adnexal structures
like hair follicles and sweat glands, indicating com-
plete tissue regeneration.
DISCUSSION
The hydrophilic nature of AASF yarn is
observed to be significantly improved after O2
plasma treatment, which subsequently facilitates
the successful impregnation of AMOX onto its sur-
face. The increase in hydrophilicity of AASF/O2
yarn is most likely owing to generation of oxygen
containing functional groups onto the surface dur-
ing O2 plasma treatment.17 This observation is
corroborated by FESEM analysis of AASF/O2
yarn (Fig 3, B). The formation of nanopits and
voids on the surface of AASF/O2 yarn can be
attributed to the etching effect caused by
impinging reactive ions.18 This also results in
incorporation of functional groups onto the sur-
face of AASF/O2 yarn, enhancing the surface
free energy and improving the hydrophilicity of
AASF/O2 yarn.
The in vitro drug release profile of AMOX
reveals high cumulative release for first 24 hours,
which is attributed to loosely associated AMOX
with the surface of AASF/O2 yarn that may have
been desorbed upon contact with the dissolution
(PBS) medium. With further increases in incuba-
tion time, slow and steady release of AMOX is
observed owing to the diffusion of antibiotic
drug from the core fibers of AASF/O2 yarn to
the PBS medium. This is may be possible because
in this work, the fibers from muga silk cocoons
are reeled and twisted together to make the
AASF yarn, which results in formation of a tight
and interconnected network structure. Owing to
insolubility of AASF in PBS, the core fibers main-
tain this network structure in PBS that retards
fast diffusion of AMOX from AASF/O2 yarn.
AASF yarn is readily susceptible to bacterial
growth, which reveals its poor antibacterial activity
against S aureus and E coli (Fig 5, A, C). Therefore,
strong antibacterial activity of AASF/O2/AMOX
against S aureus and E coli can be attributed solely
to the presence of AMOX. As observed from
Fig 5, B, D, S aureus is comparatively more sensitive
to AASF/O2/AMOX than E coli. In addition,
AASF/O2/AMOX effectively retains the same
zone of inhibition against both bacteria for up to
60 hours observation.
For safety of blood-contacting biomaterials, 5%
hemolysis is reported as permissible limit for bio-
materials.16 In this work, percentages of hemolysis
for AASF and AASF/O2/AMOX yarns are observed
to be <1%, which implies that O2 plasma
Surgery Choudhury et al 545
Volume 159, Number 2

Fig 7. (A) Skin closure of the control group. Observation of postoperative period of wound healing of control group at
days (B) 3, (C) 5, (D) 7, and (E) 14. (F) Skin closure of group A animals with no systemic treatment. Observation of
postoperative period of wound healing of group A animals at days (G) 3, (H) 5, (I) 7, and (J) 14. (K) Skin closure
of group B animals subjected to systemic treatment and observation period of the wound healing at days (L) 3, (M)
5, (N) 7, and (O) 14. (P) Skin closure of group C animals using muga (Antheraea assama) silk fibroin (AASF)/O2/amox-
icillin trihydrate (AMOX) suture. Observation of postoperative period of wound healing of group C animals at days (Q)
3, (R) 5, (S) 7, and (T) 14.

treatment followed by impregnation of AMOX
does not compromise the hemocompatibility of
AASF yarn.
Postoperative observations reveal severe deteri-
oration of the incised wounds of group A animals
compared with control group after inoculating the
incised wounds with S aureus. Good signs of heal-
ing activity were observed in group B animals;
the swelling and skin rashes gradually decrease in
and around the incised wounds (Fig 7, M). This
is accredited to the effect of AMOX, which is orally
administered (systemic treatment) to the animals
during the postoperative period. The inflamma-
tion in and around the wound can still be seen
without any hair growth. The healing process in
group B animals is complete in 21 days,
546 Choudhury et al Surgery
February 2016

Table. Clinical observations of groups A, B, and C animals at different postoperative periods

Postoperative
day Group A
3 Severe swelling and acute
inflammation
Presence of purulent discharge
5 Persistence of severe swelling
and acute inflammation.
More purulent discharge
Absence of hair growth
7 More swelling and acute
inflammation
More purulent discharge
14 Spreading of infection to the
surrounding tissues of the
incised wound
Excessive purulent discharge
Group B Group C
Swelling and acute Mild inflammation
inflammation
Skin rashes No noticeable skin infection
Minor bleeding No bleeding and skin rashes
Decrease in swelling and skin Fast decrease of inflammatory
rashes sign
No bleeding Growth of hair
Presence of inflammation No swelling
No visible hair growth
Decrease in swelling and Perfect wound edge
inflammatory signs approximation
Partial epithelization Disappearance of inflammatory
sign
Presence of skin rashes Complete covering of the
incised wound with fur
Rapid decrease in Normal appearance of skin
inflammation covered with fur
Visible hair growth
Presence of skin rashes in and
around the wound

Fig 8. (A) Colony-forming unit (CFU) count data from the incised wounds of groups A, B, and C animals collected on
postoperative days 3, 7, and 14 (*P < .05). Histopathologic studies of wound sutured with (B) muga (Antheraea assama)
silk fibroin (AASF), (C) AASF/O2, and (D) AASF/O2/amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX) yarns on postoperative day 14.
CT, Connecting tissue; DC, dead cells; E, epidermis; FC, fibrocollagenase tissue; HF, hair follicle. Stain: hematoxylin
and eosin; original magnification: 310.

characterized by disappearance of inflammatory and the healing process is completed in 7 days

signs and skin rashes and visible growth of hair (Fig 7, S). This is well-supported by CFU count
in and around the incised wounds. The fastest data, which show the greatest decrease of S aureus
healing activities are observed in group C animals in the incised wounds sutured by AASF/O2/
Surgery
Volume 159, Number 2
AMOX. In addition, the presence of relatively
more fibrocollagenase subepidermis tissues and
proliferation of connecting tissues in the incised
wounds of group C animals than groups A and B
animals indicates accelerated wound healing activ-
ity and thus agrees well with these findings. It can,
therefore, be inferred that controlled and sus-
tained release of AMOX from AASF/O2 suture
effectively contributes to the complete healing of
an incised wound in comparatively less time post-
operatively than a systemic treatment process.
In conclusion, O2 plasma treatment of AASF
yarn has been reported to increase drug impregna-
tion efficiency by 16.7%. The AASF/O2/AMOX
yarn exhibits burst release behavior within 24 hours
of incubation time, followed by sustained release
of AMOX for #336 hours. In vitro hemolysis assay
reveals that O2 plasma treatment and subsequent
impregnation of AMOX do not to affect the hemo-
compatibility of AASF yarn. The AASF/O2/AMOX
yarn proves to be effective for in vitro growth inhi-
bition of S aureus and E coli, whereas AASF shows
no antibacterial activity against those bacteria.
Clinical observation reveals that local delivery of
AMOX to the incised wound significantly reduces
healing time as compared with systemic treatment,
which is supported by CFU count data and histo-
pathologic analyses. The results obtained to date
clearly demonstrate the potential use of AASF/
O2/AMOX yarn as controlled antibiotic-releasing
suture biomaterial for superficial surgical
applications.
Arup Jyoti Choudhury thanks the Department of
Science and Technology (DST), Government of India
for providing financial support through DST Inspire
Faculty Scheme in carrying out above research work.
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