Ifeanyi T Nzekwe, Onyedika I Agwuka, Moses U Okezie, Daniel O Fasheun, Petra O Nnamani, Chukwuma O Agubata
{"title":"Designing an ideal alcohol-based hand sanitizer: in vitro antibacterial responses of ethanol and isopropyl alcohol solutions to changing composition.","authors":"Ifeanyi T Nzekwe, Onyedika I Agwuka, Moses U Okezie, Daniel O Fasheun, Petra O Nnamani, Chukwuma O Agubata","doi":"10.1186/s41120-021-00038-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to achieve an in vitro quantification of the effects of composition and formulation factors on the killing rates of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The killing rates of 85% ethyl alcohol (ET) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) were studied under different conditions such as pH, electrolyte concentration, or inclusion of herbal extracts (cucumber, carrot, and aloe vera), a quaternary ammonium compound, or thickener over different time intervals. Changes in the activities were retested after 3 months as an indication of stability. From two-way ANOVA, both the time of exposure and the sanitizer type affected the activity against <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (<i>P</i> = 0.001 for both alcohols), whereas for <i>Escherichia coli</i>, time of exposure was significant (<i>P</i> = 0.027), while sanitizer type was less significant (<i>P</i> = 0.063)<i>.</i> Extreme pHs, the presence of ions, and the inclusion of additives such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), plant extracts, or carbomer impacted the 3-month activity of the samples differently. Important differences existing in the activities of ET and IPA, as a function of formulation factors or use conditions have been quantified using in vitro methods. Formulations should best be tailored for particular purposes and the all-purpose hand sanitizer may not exist.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41120-021-00038-x.</p>","PeriodicalId":453,"journal":{"name":"AAPS Open","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8606244/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AAPS Open","FirstCategoryId":"1","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s41120-021-00038-x","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/11/22 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study aimed to achieve an in vitro quantification of the effects of composition and formulation factors on the killing rates of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The killing rates of 85% ethyl alcohol (ET) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) were studied under different conditions such as pH, electrolyte concentration, or inclusion of herbal extracts (cucumber, carrot, and aloe vera), a quaternary ammonium compound, or thickener over different time intervals. Changes in the activities were retested after 3 months as an indication of stability. From two-way ANOVA, both the time of exposure and the sanitizer type affected the activity against Staphylococcus aureus (P = 0.001 for both alcohols), whereas for Escherichia coli, time of exposure was significant (P = 0.027), while sanitizer type was less significant (P = 0.063). Extreme pHs, the presence of ions, and the inclusion of additives such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), plant extracts, or carbomer impacted the 3-month activity of the samples differently. Important differences existing in the activities of ET and IPA, as a function of formulation factors or use conditions have been quantified using in vitro methods. Formulations should best be tailored for particular purposes and the all-purpose hand sanitizer may not exist.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41120-021-00038-x.