Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model

Gerges, Bahgat; Rosenblatt, Joel; Truong, Y-Lan; Jiang, Ying; Raad, Issam

doi:10.3390/pathogens15020188

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Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model

by

Bahgat Gerges

^*

,

Joel Rosenblatt

,

Y-Lan Truong

,

Ying Jiang

and

Issam Raad

Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas, Houston, TX 77030, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Pathogens 2026, 15(2), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020188

Submission received: 13 January 2026 / Revised: 29 January 2026 / Accepted: 4 February 2026 / Published: 8 February 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Antimicrobial Agents: Combatting Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterial Infections)

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Abstract

Bacterial biofilms play a major role in delayed wound-healing and in the development of chronic, non-healing wounds. Natural, plant-based agents, which can eradicate bacterial biofilms, are alternatives to antibiotics and antiseptics in the treatment of bacterially contaminated wounds. Bacterial wound biofilms are three-dimensional and complex microbial communities. Therefore, in this study, we used a three-dimensional fibrin-gel wound biofilm (FGWB) model to compare a commonly used natural agent in wound care, hypochlorous acid (HOCl), to a combination of two natural plant-based agents, polygalacturonic acid (PG) and caprylic acid (CAP) (PG + CAP), for their abilities to eradicate resistant bacterial biofilms of common wound pathogens methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multi-drug resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, metallo β-Lactamase Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus pyogenes. PG + CAP produced a significantly greater reduction in viable organisms when compared to HOCL (p ≤ 0.05) against all tested bacterial isolates. PG + CAP was highly effective against biofilms of all resistant bacterial isolates and is a promising option that merits further study for treating chronic wounds contaminated with bacterial biofilms.

Keywords: polygalacturonic + caprylic acids (PG + CAP); hypochlorous acid (HOCl); fibrin-gel wound biofilm (FGWB) model; methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa; metallo β-Lactamase E. coli; Streptococcus pyogenes

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MDPI and ACS Style

Gerges, B.; Rosenblatt, J.; Truong, Y.-L.; Jiang, Y.; Raad, I. Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model. Pathogens 2026, 15, 188. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020188

AMA Style

Gerges B, Rosenblatt J, Truong Y-L, Jiang Y, Raad I. Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model. Pathogens. 2026; 15(2):188. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020188

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerges, Bahgat, Joel Rosenblatt, Y-Lan Truong, Ying Jiang, and Issam Raad. 2026. "Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model" Pathogens 15, no. 2: 188. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020188

APA Style

Gerges, B., Rosenblatt, J., Truong, Y.-L., Jiang, Y., & Raad, I. (2026). Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model. Pathogens, 15(2), 188. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020188

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Elevated Antibacterial Activity of a Polygalacturonic + Caprylic Acids Wound Ointment Compared with Hypochlorous Acid in a Three-Dimensional Wound Biofilm Model

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