Chitosan based films as supports for dual antimicrobial release

Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CFX) loaded chitosan films were produced with the aim to achieve a topic controlled drug delivery system for ciprofloxacin hydrochloride. The release was easily controlled by the degree of crosslinking and film thickness. The release pat-tern, initial burst release followed by sustained released, was very favourable for an antibiotic release since CFX concentration were several times above typical MIC of several microorganisms. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were generated in situ in a chitosan solution under UV irradiation and CFX nanocomposite loaded chitosan films were easily produced by solvent casting. The release of CFX was not affected by AgNPs and a novel dual system was produced in which bothantimicrobials were released in PBS. The antimicrobial effect of CFX and AgNPs-CFX loaded chitosanfilms against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was tested and the antimi-crobial loaded films exhibited a similar inhibition zone than the CFX controls and higher than the chitosan films alone.