Nanoemulsion-based chitosan nanocapsules as antibiotic delivery system

Resumen del trabajo presentado al IMI Translocation - Novel approaches to fight bacteria: "From understanding the crossing of membrane barrier to the development of new nanotechnology-based drugs", celebrado en Bremen (Alemania) del 10 al 14 de julio de 2016.-- et al.The combination of nanoemulsion method and chitosan coating presented in this work has been proved to be a promising strategy to obtain a versatile multi-pocket nanocarrier. The use of antibiotics produces important side effects, thus reducing the dose of administration and targeting the infection sites are issues of important concern. Nanotechnology represents an important tool to improve the residence and blood circulation time of the delivered drugs so allowing the reduction of the dose and possibly the side effects. In the past few decades, many kinds of nanocarriers have been developed for delivery and targeting of therapeutic or diagnostic agents for medical treatments, thanks to some important advantages that they offer depending on their physicochemical properties. Different antibiotics active both against MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and MRTB (Multi-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis) have been successfully encapsulated in nanoemulsion-based chitosan nanocapsules. In particular, bedaquiline, amikacin, active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and daptomycin, against Staphylococcus aureus. The encapsulation of the selected antibiotics is reported, in terms of optimization of the drug loading and encapsulation efficiency of the process. The systems obtained have been fully characterized and their antimicrobial effect has been tested, proving the maintenance of the drug activity once the antibiotic is encapsulated.Peer Reviewe