Structural and functional stabilization of bacteriophage particles within the aqueous core of a W/O/W multiple emulsion: a potential biotherapeutic system for the inhalational treatment of bacterial pneumonia

The increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is growing every day, most likely associated with the indiscriminate use of these antimicrobials or even with evolutionary adaptability of bacteria to their environment. This situation brings a need to develop new alternatives to conventional antibiotics, and thus the application of strictly lytic bacteriophages has been proposed as an alternative (or complement) to the former, allowing release of the natural predators of bacteria directly where they are needed the most: the infection site. The main advantages of bacteriophages to treat infections is the maintenance of a high concentration of bacteriophage particles in the action site while any viable target bacteria still exist, coupled to the production of enzymes that hydrolyze the polymeric matrix of bacterial biofilms promoting penetration and antibacterial action. In the research effort entertained herein, the potential for protection and stabilization of strictly lytic bacteriophages with broad spectrum capable of infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, so as to maintain their structure and functionality, was investigated via encapsulation within the aqueous-core of lipid nanodroplets integrating a W/O/W multiple emulsion system, aiming at developing isotonic derivative solutions thereof for administration by nebulization.Project funding by FAPESP (São Paulo, Brazil; Refs. No. 2013/ 03181-6 (Project PneumoPhageKill), 2016/08884-3 (Project PneumoPhageColor) and 2016/12234-4 (Project TransAppIL)), is hereby gratefully acknowledged. This work also received support from CNPq, in the form of a Research Productivity (PQ)fellowship granted to Victor M. Balcão (Ref. No. 306113/2014-7). The authors are grateful to the LME facility at LNNano/CNPEM (Campinas, Brazil) for the use of the TEM microscope. The authors have no conflicts of interest whatsoever to declare.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Recent advances in nanosystems and strategies for vaginal delivery of antimicrobials

Vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis (BV), chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, candidiasis, and trichomoniasis affect millions of women each year. They are caused by an overgrowth of microorganisms, generally sexually transmitted, which in turn can be favored by alterations in the vaginal flora. Conventional treatments of these infections consist in systemic or local antimicrobial therapies. However, in the attempt to reduce adverse effects and to contrast microbial resistance and infection recurrences, many efforts have been devoted to the development of vaginal systems for the local delivery of antimicrobials. Several topical dosage forms such as aerosols, lotions, suppositories, tablets, gels, and creams have been proposed, although they are sometimes ineffective due to their poor penetration and rapid removal from the vaginal canal. For these reasons, the development of innovative drug delivery systems, able to remain in situ and release active agents for a prolonged period, is becoming more and more important. Among all, nanosystems such as liposomes, nanoparticles (NPs), and micelles with tunable surface properties, but also thermogelling nanocomposites, could be exploited to improve local drug delivery, biodistribution, retention, and uptake in vulvovaginal tissues. The aim of this review is to provide a survey of the variety of nanoplatforms developed for the vaginal delivery of antimicrobial agents. A concise summary of the most common vaginal infections and of the conventional therapies is also provided

Resveratrol: Extraction Techniques, Bioactivity, and Therapeutic Potential in Ocular Diseases

Resveratrol (RV), a natural polyphenol found in various plants, exhibits a wide range of bioactive properties and mechanisms of action. Its potential therapeutic benefits in several diseases and, more specifically, in ocular diseases have garnered significant attention, with studies exploring RV properties at cellular, molecular, and physiological levels. Like many natural derivatives, RV can be obtained through various extraction methods from plant sources, with a growing interest in sustainable techniques that align with recent trends in sustainability, circular economy, and green chemistry. This review begins by describing the most efficient and sustainable extraction techniques of RV from natural sources and then delves into its numerous bioactive properties and its synergistic effects with other active substances and drugs. Furthermore, an overview of the scientific literature on RV as a therapeutic agent for ocular diseases, both in its pure form and entrapped in nanoparticulate systems, is provided

Calcium Phosphate-Coated Lipid Nanoparticles as a Potential Tool in Bone Diseases Therapy

The treatment of bone diseases (including osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and bone cancer) often results in reduced efficiency and/or adverse reactions due to the fact that it is not specifically targeted to the site of action. The employment of a suitable carrier should increase drug location to the site of bone disease. The purpose of this study is to prepare and characterize lipid nanoparticles (NPs) coated with calcium phosphate (CaP-NPs). A coating method, to date used only to obtain liposomes covered with CaP, is herein partially-modified to prepare CaP-coated lipid NPs. An extensive physico-chemical characterization was achieved by employing several techniques (DLS, SEM and TEM, and both combined with EDS, XRD, and FTIR) that confirmed the feasibility of the developed coating method. Preliminary uptake studies on human osteosarcoma cells (U-2OS) were performed by entrapping, as a lipid probe, Sudan Red III in NPs. The obtained data provided evidence that CaP-NPs showed higher cell accumulation than uncoated NPs. This result may have important implications for the development of drug loaded CaP-NPs to be tested in vitro with a view of planning future treatment of bone diseases, and indicate that CaP-NPs are potential vehicles for selective drug delivery to bone tissue