Antimicrobial polymers hydrophilic cationic

Similar synthetic methods were used to prepare a wide variety of quaternary cation stmctures with varying hydropho-bidty and rigidity. Antimicrobial activity was measured by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the lowest concentration of polymer needed to inhibit bacterial growth. Later literature often defines the term MICgo as the concentration at which 90% of bacterial growth is inhibited. MIC values for the polymers were lowest for the rigid, hydrophobic stmctures, and highest for the flexible, hydrophilic backbones. Polymers with... 

The balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties was found to be a very important parameter for the preparation of antimicrobial amphiphilic polycations. On the one hand, the cationic part of the macromolecule is the main reason for electrostatic interactions with the anionic components of the bacterial cell surface.On the other hand, the mode of action of amphiphilic polycations calls for a certain hydrophobicity otherwise, the amphiphilic polycations would not be able to penetrate the bacterial cell membrane.However, it has been pointed out in various investigations that the higher the hydrophobic part, the higher the hemolysis rate will be. This means that there has to be an optimum value for an amphiphilic polymer system that offers maximum efficacy against bacteria and, simultaneously, minimal hemolytic activity. As pointed out by Palermo and Kuroda, there are mainly three different strategies used to tune the balance between the... 

---