Enrichment of Bone Tissue with Antibacterially Effective Amounts of Nitric Oxide Derivatives by Treatment with Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasmas Optimized for Nitrogen Oxide Chemistry

Biomedicines, vol. 11, pp. 244

Abstract

Cold atmospheric plasmas (CAPs) generated by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), particularly those containing higher amounts of nitric oxide (NO) or NO derivates (NOD), are attracting increasing interest in medical fields. In the present study, we, for the first time, evaluated DBD-CAP-induced NOD accumulation and therapeutically relevant NO release in calcified bone tissue. This knowledge is of great importance for the development of new therapies against bacterial-infectious complications during bone healing, such as osteitis or osteomyelitis. We found that by modulating the power dissipation in the discharge, it is possible (1) to significantly increase the uptake of NODs in bone tissue, even into deeper regions, (2) to significantly decrease the pH in CAP-exposed bone tissue, (3) to induce a long-lasting and modulable NO production in the bone samples as well as (4) to significantly protect the treated bone tissue against bacterial contaminations, and to induce a strong bactericidal effect in bacterially infected bone samples. Our results strongly suggest that the current DBD technology opens up effective NO-based therapy options in the treatment of local bacterial infections of the bone tissue through the possibility of a targeted modulation of the NOD content in the generated CAPs.

Authors 5

1. Dennis Feibel

   Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Department for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany

2. Christian Opländer

   Witten/Herdecke University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Research in Operative Medicine (IFOM), Cologne-Merheim Medical Center, University Witten/Herdecke, 58455 Witten-Herdecke, Germany

3. Gerrit Grieb Aachen Medical Faculty Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery Burn Center

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, Burn Centre, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. Joachim Windolf

   Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Department for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany

5. Christoph Viktor Suschek corresponding

   Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Department for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany