Abstract: Objective To evaluate antibacterial and antifungal effect of the composite chitosan artificial skin in vitro. Methods The standard strains were used in the experiment, including Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC25922), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) and Candida albicans (ATCC10231). Twelve agar plates were prepared for each standard strain, which were equally divided into the trial and the control groups. In the trial groups, 50 μL composite chitosan dermal substitute was added to each prepared agar plate, two samples for each plate. In the control groups, composite collagen-gelatin dermal substitute was used. After the plates were incubated at 35℃ for 18~24 h, the antibacterial or antifungal rings of every sample were measured. Results The composite chitosan dermal substitute showed the antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923), Escherichia coli (ATCC25922), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC27853) (P<0.01, P<0.05, and P<0.001, respectively). Both composite chitosan dermal substitute and composite collagen-gelatin dermal substitute had no antifungal effect on Candida albicans (ATCC10231). Conclusion Composite chitosan artificial skin has the antibacterial effect in vitro, which may be used as a tissue-engineered substitute.

Key words: Skin, artificial, Dermis, Chitin, Microbial sensitivity tests