Bacterial infections account for countless deaths globally. Antibiotics are the primary countermeasure; however, the alarming spread of antibiotic‐resistant strains necessitates alternative solutions. Silver and silver compounds have emerged as promising antibacterial agents. However, issues related to cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of silver remain concern. To overcome these challenges, this proposes an easy‐to‐control and straightforward method to synthesize novel Silver─gallium (Ag─Ga) nano‐amalgamated particles. Gallium liquid metal (GaLM) is used to facilitate the galvanic deposition of silver nanocrystals (Ag) on oxide layer. The GaLM not only serves as a carrier for silver through the galvanic replacement process, but also provides a controlled‐release mechanism for silver, in this way improving biocompatibility, reducing inflammation, and stimulating bone growth. Notably, Ag─Ga suspensions can be conveniently deposited by spray‐coating on a range of devices and material surfaces, effectively eliminating pathogenic bacteria with efficacy comparable to that of silver ions. In vivo studies in rat models affirm the antibacterial capabilities, especially against methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, when placed on implants such as titanium rods and magnesium discs. Furthermore, Ag─Ga promotes bone matrix formation and collagen growth without eliciting an inflammatory response, indicating a major promise for coatings on a wide variety of biomedical devices and materials.
Nanosized multi-drug delivery systems provide synergistic effects between drugs and bioactive compounds, resulting in increased overall efficiency and restricted side effects compared to conventional single-drug chemotherapy. In this study, we develop an amphiphilic heparin-poloxamer P403 (HP403) nanogel that could effectively co-load curcuminoid (Cur) and cisplatin hydrate (CisOH) (HP403@CisOH@Cur) via two loading mechanisms. The HP403 nanogels and HP403@CisOH@Cur nanogels were closely analyzed with 1H-NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, TEM, and DLS, exhibiting high stability in spherical forms. In drug release profiles, accelerated behavior of Cur and CisOH at pH 5.5 compared with neutral pH was observed, suggesting effective delivery of the compounds in tumor sites. In vitro studies showed high antitumor activity of HP403@CisOH@Cur nanogels, while in vivo assays showed that the dual-drug platform prolonged the survival time of mice and prevented tail necrosis. In summary, HP403@CisOH@Cur offers an intriguing strategy to achieve the cisplatin and curcumin synergistic effect in a well-designed delivery platform that increases antitumor effectiveness and overcomes undesired consequences caused by cisplatin in breast cancer treatment.
The challenge of wound healing, particularly in patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, is intensified by wound infection and the accelerating problem of bacterial resistance to current remedies such as antibiotics and silver. One promising approach harnesses the bioactive and antibacterial compound C‐phycocyanin from the microalga Spirulina maxima. However, the current processes of extracting this compound and developing coatings are unsustainable and difficult to achieve. To circumvent these obstacles, a novel, sustainable argon atmospheric plasma jet (Ar‐APJ) technology that transforms S. maxima biomass into bioactive coatings is presented. This Ar‐APJ can selectively disrupt the cell walls of S. maxima, converting them into bioactive ultrathin coatings, which are found to be durable under aqueous conditions. The findings demonstrate that Ar‐APJ‐transformed bioactive coatings show better antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, these coatings exhibit compatibility with macrophages, induce an anti‐inflammatory response by reducing interleukin 6 production, and promote cell migration in keratinocytes. This study offers an innovative, single‐step, sustainable technology for transforming microalgae into bioactive coatings. The approach reported here has immense potential for the generation of bioactive coatings for combating wound infections and may offer a significant advance in wound care research and application.
5 April 2024 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Chronic wounds often result in multiple infections with various kinds of bacteria and uncontrolled wound exudate, resulting in several healthcare issues. Advanced medicated nanofibres prepared by electrospinning have gained much attention for their topical application on infected chronic wounds. The objective of this work is to enhance the critical variables of ciprofloxacin-loaded polycaprolactone-silk sericin (PCL/SS-PVA-CIP) nanofibre production via the process of electrospinning. To examine the antibacterial effectiveness of PCL/SS-PVA-CIP nanocomposites, the material was tested against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. The combination of PCL/SS-PVA-CIP exhibited potent inhibitory properties, with the most effective concentrations of ciprofloxacin (CIP) being 3 μg/g and 7.0 μg/g for each bacterium, respectively. The biocompatibility was evaluated by conducting cell reduction and proliferation studies using the human epidermal keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells and human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) in vitro cell lines. The PCL/SS-PVA-CIP showed good cell compatibility with HaCaT and HGF cells, with effective proliferation even at antibiotic doses of up to 7.0 μg/g. The drug release effectiveness of the nanocomposites was assessed at various concentrations of CIP, resulting in a maximum cumulative release of 76.5% and 74.4% after 72 h for CIP concentrations of 3 μg/g and 7 μg/g, respectively. In summary, our study emphasizes the possibility of combining silk sericin (SS) and polycaprolactone (PCL) loading with CIP nanocomposite for wound management.