Doxyclycline and Ciprofloxacin Treatment of Silk to Produce Novel Infection Resistance Biomaterials

Two antibiotics, doxycycline (doxy) and ciprofloxacin (cipro) were applied under a variety of conditions to silk, and to silk that had previously been hydrolyzed. FTIR-ATR analyses indicated that the drastic increase in sorption of antibiotics by hydrolyzed silk was attributable to both chemical and conformational changes that occurred on hydrolysis. A high sorption of doxy by hydrolyzed silk did not necessarily give a more infection-resistant material as determined by a zone of inhibition test. Conversely, the same hydrolysis considerably increased both sorption of cipro and zone of inhibition of cipro-treated silk dyed at 65$^{\circ}C$ and 85$^{\circ}C$.