Effects of the pH and the urine infected by Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis on chromic catgut, polyglycolic acid and polyglactin 910: study in vitro.
In order to study the effects of the pH and the urine infected by Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis on chromic catgut, polyglycolic acid (PGA) and polyglactin 910 (P910), we divided the experiment into three steps. In the first step, the behavior of suture material immersed in sterile urine, urine infected by E. coli and urine infected by P. mirabilis and in culture environment infected by P. mirabilis was studied. The physical features were observed continuously up to the 6th day. In the second step, every element of the urea-splitting reaction was isolatedly studied , without the presence of bacterial agents. And in the last step, that reaction was mimetized in sterile environments and in environments with acid and alkaline pH. While the chromic catgut was kept integral in all the environments, the PGA and the P910 dissolved in urine infected by Proteus, which was caused by the ammonia resulting from the urea-splitting reaction. This dissolution was also observed in sterile environment (mimetization of the urea-splitting reaction by urease, with no Proteus). The destruction of the sutures was not influenced by the pH variance.