%0 Journal Article %A Neidrauer, Michael %A Ercan, Utku K. %A Bhattacharyya, Aparna %A Samuels, Joshua %A Sedlak, Jason %A Trikha, Ritika %A Barbee, Kenneth A. %A Weingarten, Michael S. %A Joshi, Suresh G. %T Antimicrobial efficacy and wound-healing property of a topical ointment containing nitric-oxide-loaded zeolites %D 2014 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 63 %N 2 %P 203-209 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.067322-0 %I Microbiology Society, %X Topical delivery of nitric oxide (NO) through a wound dressing has the potential to reduce wound infections and improve healing of acute and chronic wounds. This study characterized the antibacterial efficacy of an ointment containing NO-loaded, zinc-exchanged zeolite A that releases NO upon contact with water. The release rate of NO from the ointment was measured using a chemiluminescence detection system. Minimum bactericidal concentration assays were performed using five common wound pathogens, including Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii), Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and a fungus (Candida albicans). The time dependence of antimicrobial activity was characterized by performing log-reduction assays at four time points after 1–8 h ointment exposure. The cytotoxicity of the ointment after 24 h was assessed using cultured 3T3 fibroblast cells. Minimum microbicidal concentrations (MMCs) for bacterial organisms (5×107 c.f.u.) ranged from 50 to 100 mg ointment (ml media)−1; the MMC for C. albicans (5×104 c.f.u.) was 50 mg ointment (ml media)−1. Five to eight log reductions in bacterial viability and three log reductions in fungal viability were observed after 8 h exposure to NO–zeolite ointment compared with untreated organisms. Fibroblasts remained viable after 24 h exposure to the same concentration of NO–zeolite ointment as was used in antimicrobial tests. In parallel studies, full-thickness cutaneous wounds on Zucker obese rats healed faster than wounds treated with a control ointment. These data indicate that ointment containing NO-loaded zeolites could potentially be used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial wound-healing dressing. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.067322-0