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Nanotechnology may help control the fungal infections that can lead to mortality in burn patients, early research suggests.
Nanoparticle encapsulated amphotericin b reduced fungal activity by 80%-95% compared with controls in a burn wound model. The findings were published online June 12 in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.nano.2013.06.002).
"Infection and sepsis persist as frequent causes of morbidity and mortality for burn victims due to extensive compromise of the skin and contiguous tissue that serve as a protective barrier against microbial invasion," wrote David A. Sanchez and his colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Currently available antifungals such as amphotericin b (AmB) are associated with liver toxicity at high doses, but the researchers proposed that encapsulating the drug would allow for topical use.
In this study, nanoparticle encapsulated AmB (AmB-np) significantly reduced fungal biofilm activity in a burn tissue model compared with untreated control areas over an exposure period of 24 hours, and a significant reduction in fungal activity compared with controls remained evident after 15 days of treatment. Fungal activity was measured via CFU assay to test for Candida spp strains including C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis.
The researchers also compared AmB-np to solubilized AmB (AmB-sol) and found similar antifungal efficacy. The data substantiate the hypothesis "that encapsulated AmB is actively being liberated from the nanoparticles," they noted.
The burn tissue was assessed at 7 and 11 days from baseline wounding. AmB-np and AmB-sol were similarly effective and were associated with "decreased peripheral wound erythema, tissue induration and edema, and necrotic crusting in comparison to infected controls," the researchers said. However, histology data showed "more advanced re-epithelialization, organized dermal proliferation and appropriate/expected dermal remodeling as compared to the AmB-sol and untreated infected control," they added.
Toxicity concerns remain a controversy associated with nanoparticle application, the researchers noted. However, AmB-np showed no significant difference compared with nontreated and solubilized groups in an animal model. "Moreover, our histological studies show enhanced tissue healing in the AmB-np animals compared to the other groups," the researchers noted.
The findings were limited by the differences between a murine model and human skin, and by the absence of blank nanoparticles as controls. But the results suggest that AmB-np has clinical potential as a topical antifungal because of its "uncompromised antimycotic action" against multiple fungal strains, and its successful delivery in an in vivo burn wound model, the researchers said.
Mr. Sanchez and his colleagues had no financial conflicts to disclose.
On Twitter: @hsplete
Nanotechnology may help control the fungal infections that can lead to mortality in burn patients, early research suggests.
Nanoparticle encapsulated amphotericin b reduced fungal activity by 80%-95% compared with controls in a burn wound model. The findings were published online June 12 in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.nano.2013.06.002).
"Infection and sepsis persist as frequent causes of morbidity and mortality for burn victims due to extensive compromise of the skin and contiguous tissue that serve as a protective barrier against microbial invasion," wrote David A. Sanchez and his colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Currently available antifungals such as amphotericin b (AmB) are associated with liver toxicity at high doses, but the researchers proposed that encapsulating the drug would allow for topical use.
In this study, nanoparticle encapsulated AmB (AmB-np) significantly reduced fungal biofilm activity in a burn tissue model compared with untreated control areas over an exposure period of 24 hours, and a significant reduction in fungal activity compared with controls remained evident after 15 days of treatment. Fungal activity was measured via CFU assay to test for Candida spp strains including C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis.
The researchers also compared AmB-np to solubilized AmB (AmB-sol) and found similar antifungal efficacy. The data substantiate the hypothesis "that encapsulated AmB is actively being liberated from the nanoparticles," they noted.
The burn tissue was assessed at 7 and 11 days from baseline wounding. AmB-np and AmB-sol were similarly effective and were associated with "decreased peripheral wound erythema, tissue induration and edema, and necrotic crusting in comparison to infected controls," the researchers said. However, histology data showed "more advanced re-epithelialization, organized dermal proliferation and appropriate/expected dermal remodeling as compared to the AmB-sol and untreated infected control," they added.
Toxicity concerns remain a controversy associated with nanoparticle application, the researchers noted. However, AmB-np showed no significant difference compared with nontreated and solubilized groups in an animal model. "Moreover, our histological studies show enhanced tissue healing in the AmB-np animals compared to the other groups," the researchers noted.
The findings were limited by the differences between a murine model and human skin, and by the absence of blank nanoparticles as controls. But the results suggest that AmB-np has clinical potential as a topical antifungal because of its "uncompromised antimycotic action" against multiple fungal strains, and its successful delivery in an in vivo burn wound model, the researchers said.
Mr. Sanchez and his colleagues had no financial conflicts to disclose.
On Twitter: @hsplete
Nanotechnology may help control the fungal infections that can lead to mortality in burn patients, early research suggests.
Nanoparticle encapsulated amphotericin b reduced fungal activity by 80%-95% compared with controls in a burn wound model. The findings were published online June 12 in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine (doi:10.1016/j.nano.2013.06.002).
"Infection and sepsis persist as frequent causes of morbidity and mortality for burn victims due to extensive compromise of the skin and contiguous tissue that serve as a protective barrier against microbial invasion," wrote David A. Sanchez and his colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Currently available antifungals such as amphotericin b (AmB) are associated with liver toxicity at high doses, but the researchers proposed that encapsulating the drug would allow for topical use.
In this study, nanoparticle encapsulated AmB (AmB-np) significantly reduced fungal biofilm activity in a burn tissue model compared with untreated control areas over an exposure period of 24 hours, and a significant reduction in fungal activity compared with controls remained evident after 15 days of treatment. Fungal activity was measured via CFU assay to test for Candida spp strains including C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. parapsilosis.
The researchers also compared AmB-np to solubilized AmB (AmB-sol) and found similar antifungal efficacy. The data substantiate the hypothesis "that encapsulated AmB is actively being liberated from the nanoparticles," they noted.
The burn tissue was assessed at 7 and 11 days from baseline wounding. AmB-np and AmB-sol were similarly effective and were associated with "decreased peripheral wound erythema, tissue induration and edema, and necrotic crusting in comparison to infected controls," the researchers said. However, histology data showed "more advanced re-epithelialization, organized dermal proliferation and appropriate/expected dermal remodeling as compared to the AmB-sol and untreated infected control," they added.
Toxicity concerns remain a controversy associated with nanoparticle application, the researchers noted. However, AmB-np showed no significant difference compared with nontreated and solubilized groups in an animal model. "Moreover, our histological studies show enhanced tissue healing in the AmB-np animals compared to the other groups," the researchers noted.
The findings were limited by the differences between a murine model and human skin, and by the absence of blank nanoparticles as controls. But the results suggest that AmB-np has clinical potential as a topical antifungal because of its "uncompromised antimycotic action" against multiple fungal strains, and its successful delivery in an in vivo burn wound model, the researchers said.
Mr. Sanchez and his colleagues had no financial conflicts to disclose.
On Twitter: @hsplete
FROM NANOMEDICINE: NANOTECHNOLOGY, BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
