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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Bioengineering and Targeted Non-Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases
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Bioengineering and Targeted Non-Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Gene and Cell Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 3986

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Catarina Leal Seabra

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
LAQV/ REQUIMTE, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Interests: nanomaterials; nanoparticles; antibacterial and antimicrobial drugs; antibiotic-free strategies; gut microbiota; biofilms; infectious diseases, targeted nano-bio approaches
Dr. Sonia Pinho

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: nanomaterials; nanoparticles; functionalization; drug delivery; theranostics; bioimaging; nanotechnology; nanoparticle; nanomedicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As Guest Editors of this issue of Pharmaceutics, we would like to invite researchers to submit original and high-quality publications covering their current and novel research activities related to biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical science, and nano-bioengineering.

Infectious diseases have become one of the world’s most urgent health issues. The discovery of antibiotics in the early 20th century has revolutionized the treatment of infectious diseases, saving millions of lives. However, in recent decades, the development of antibiotic resistance has become more pronounced due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in both community- and hospital-acquired infections, resulting in increased morbidity, mortality, and economic costs. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of novel drugs or non-antibiotic approaches to prevent and/or to eradicate the spread of microbial-resistant infections.

Nanotechnology has played an important role in the development of novel solutions with the design of targeted therapies and the discovery of new formulations such as antimicrobial bioactive compounds and biofilm control. This Special Issue aims to cover different aspects of recent advances in the development of bioengineered and targeted antibiotic-free approaches, with a focus on infectious diseases.

As Guest Editors, we invite all researchers to submit original research or review articles to this important and exciting research field.

Dr. Catarina Leal Seabra
Dr. Sonia Pinho
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • targeted therapies
  • drug delivery
  • nanoparticles
  • nanomedicine
  • nanotechnology
  • bioengineered and functionalized strategies
  • non-antibiotic therapies
  • biofilm control and eradiation
  • antimicrobial activity
  • healthcare
  • infectious disease

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 10651 KiB  
Article
How Charge, Size and Protein Corona Modulate the Specific Activity of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC) against Helicobacter pylori
by Rute Chitas, Cláudia Nunes, Salette Reis, Paula Parreira and Maria Cristina L. Martins
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(12), 2745; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14122745 - 8 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1836
Abstract
The major risk factor associated with the development of gastric cancer is chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori. The available treatments, based on a cocktail of antibiotics, fail in up to 40% of patients and disrupt their gut microbiota. The potential of blank [...] Read more.
The major risk factor associated with the development of gastric cancer is chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori. The available treatments, based on a cocktail of antibiotics, fail in up to 40% of patients and disrupt their gut microbiota. The potential of blank nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for H. pylori eradication was previously demonstrated by us. However, the effect of NLC charge, size and protein corona on H. pylori-specific bactericidal activity herein studied was unknown at that time. All developed NLC formulations proved bactericidal against H. pylori. Although cationic NLC had 10-fold higher bactericidal activity than anionic NLC, they lacked specificity, since Lactobacillus acidophilus was also affected. Anionic NLC achieved complete clearance in both H. pylori morphologies (rod- and coccoid-shape) by inducing alterations in bacteria membranes and the cytoplasm, as visualized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The presence of an NLC protein corona, composed of 93% albumin, was confirmed by mass spectrometry. This protein corona delayed the bactericidal activity of anionic NLC against H. pylori and hindered NLC activity against Escherichia coli. Overall, these results sustain the use of NLC as a promising antibiotic-free strategy targeting H. pylori. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioengineering and Targeted Non-Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases)
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20 pages, 4145 KiB  
Article
Antibiofilm Combinatory Strategy: Moxifloxacin-Loaded Nanosystems and Encapsulated N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine
by Rita M. Pinto, Catarina Leal Seabra, Martine De Jonge, M. Cristina L. Martins, Patrick Van Dijck, Salette Reis and Cláudia Nunes
Pharmaceutics 2022, 14(11), 2294; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14112294 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1585
Abstract
Bacterial biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus, formed on implants, have a massive impact on the increasing number of antimicrobial resistance cases. The current treatment for biofilm-associated infections is based on the administration of antibiotics, failing to target the biofilm matrix. This work is [...] Read more.
Bacterial biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus, formed on implants, have a massive impact on the increasing number of antimicrobial resistance cases. The current treatment for biofilm-associated infections is based on the administration of antibiotics, failing to target the biofilm matrix. This work is focused on the development of multiple lipid nanoparticles (MLNs) encapsulating the antibiotic moxifloxacin (MOX). The nanoparticles were functionalized with d-amino acids to target the biofilm matrix. The produced formulations exhibited a mean hydrodynamic diameter below 300 nm, a low polydispersity index, and high encapsulation efficiency. The nanoparticles exhibited low cytotoxicity towards fibroblasts and low hemolytic activity. To target bacterial cells and the biofilm matrix, MOX-loaded MLNs were combined with a nanosystem encapsulating a matrix-disruptive agent: N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). The nanosystems alone showed a significant reduction of both S. aureus biofilm viability and biomass, using the microtiter plate biofilm model. Further, biofilms grown inside polyurethane catheters were used to assess the effect of combining MOX-loaded and NAC-loaded nanosystems on biofilm viability. An increased antibiofilm efficacy was observed when combining the functionalized MOX-loaded MLNs and NAC-loaded nanosystems. Thus, nanosystems as carriers of bactericidal and matrix-disruptive agents are a promising combinatory strategy towards the eradication of S. aureus biofilms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioengineering and Targeted Non-Antibiotic Therapy in Infectious Diseases)
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