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Antimicrobial polymers: mechanism of action, factors of activity, and applications.

Abstract
Complex epidemiological situation, nosocomial infections, microbial contamination, and infection risks in hospital and dental equipment have led to an ever-growing need for prevention of microbial infection in these various areas. Macromolecular systems, due to their properties, allow one to efficiently use them in various fields, including the creation of polymers with the antimicrobial activity. In the past decade, the intensive development of a large class of antimicrobial macromolecular systems, polymers, and copolymers, either quaternized or functionalized with bioactive groups, has been continued, and they have been successfully used as biocides. Various permanent microbicidal surfaces with non-leaching polymer antimicrobial coatings have been designed. Along with these trends, new moderately hydrophobic polymer structures have been synthesized and studied, which contain protonated primary or secondary/tertiary amine groups that exhibited rather high antimicrobial activity, often unlike their quaternary analogues. This mini-review briefly highlights and summarizes the results of studies during the past decade and especially in recent years, which concern the mechanism of action of different antimicrobial polymers and non-leaching microbicidal surfaces, and factors influencing their activity and toxicity, as well as major applications of antimicrobial polymers.
AuthorsLarisa Timofeeva, Natalia Kleshcheva
JournalApplied microbiology and biotechnology (Appl Microbiol Biotechnol) Vol. 89 Issue 3 Pg. 475-92 (Feb 2011) ISSN: 1432-0614 [Electronic] Germany
PMID20953604 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
Chemical References
  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Polymers
Topics
  • Anti-Infective Agents (adverse effects, chemistry, pharmacology)
  • Cross Infection (prevention & control)
  • Humans
  • Infection Control (methods)
  • Polymers (adverse effects, chemistry, pharmacology)

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