Although antibiotics are truly life-saving in the field of health, they can require a very challenging process. In addition to the length of treatments required, doses may need to be taken carefully and at the right time according to meals, and you may need to avoid certain foods and drinks. That’s why researchers are working on a new delivery system that will allow you to get all the antibiotics you need at once.
The nanomedicine system developed by scientists at the University of Waterloo encapsulates an entire antibiotic treatment in one small package. The microscopic fatty acid compounds used ensure that the drug is released into the body only in the presence of toxins produced by bacteria. Chief investigator Dr. This nanomedicine also has the potential to reduce side effects associated with overdose because it is designed to be released only when needed, unlike traditional treatments where the drug is released continuously, Emmanuel Ho said. The nano-medicine breaks down naturally in the body without any side effects when it is not needed, which reduces the risks brought by heavier drugs in particular.
Streptococcus pneumoniae and Gardnerella vaginalis
In two separate papers, the authors detail how they tested their innovation on two bacteria that often cause human disease. These two bacteria include Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is often implicated in serious, potentially fatal infections such as meningitis and bacterial pneumonia and can progress to sepsis, and Gardnerella vaginalis, the primary cause of bacterial vaginosis, a common vaginal infection that causes discomfort and abnormal discharge.
Since both of these bacteria are associated with a high risk of reinfection, the main goal of this nanomedicine was to develop a system that would prevent the recurrence of infection without patients having to take multiple doses of the drug.
Additionally, this system ensures that exactly the right amount of antibiotics are administered to fight infection and that no overdose occurs. This ability could also provide a significant advantage for antibiotic stewardship, as various dosing issues, such as overuse of antibiotics, can cause bacteria to become resistant.
Tests for S. pneumoniae and G. vaginalis have been limited to bacterial cultures for now. The system has not yet been developed into a drug that humans can take, but the authors hope they can achieve that goal. Both studies showed that this system worked as intended, stably releasing the drug in the presence of the target bacteria.
This technology could have implications beyond general therapeutic use and could be used in diagnostics and antimicrobial coatings, the authors suggest. Testing is also ongoing to see if it can be applied to food packaging to help various products stay fresher longer.
The S. pneumoniae study was published in Drug Delivery and Translational Research. The G. vaginalis study was published in Nanotechnology.
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