One-pot synthesis of chlorhexidine-templated biodegradable mesoporous organosilica nanoantiseptics

Chlorhexidine (CHX) is a widely used antiseptic in various infection control practices. In this work, we have developed biodegradable mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MONs) through a one-pot synthesis by employing CHX as a bifunctional agent that not any acts as a cationic template to form the structure of mesopores but also serves as a broad-spectrum antiseptic. The resulting CHX@MONs exhibit a relatively high CHX content and glutathione (GSH)-responsive release of CHX via a matrix-degradation-controlled mechanism, leading to comparable antibacterial effects with CHX on both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, the effective antibacterial concentration of CHX@MONs shows less cytotoxicity toward normal cells. Our findings will help increase the use of CHX as an antiseptic agent, especially for responsive drug release upon bacterial infection.