Dhvar5-chitosan nanogels and their potential to improve antibiotics activity

B. Costa, P. M. Alves, D. R. Fonseca, F. Campos, A. C. Monteiro, H. Shahrour, A. Gomes, F. Costa, P. Gomes, G. Martínez-de-Tejada, C. Monteiro, M. C. L. Martins*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Infection is one of the main causes of orthopedic implants failure, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria playing a crucial role in this outcome. In this work, antimicrobial nanogels were developed to be applied in situ as implant coating to prevent orthopedic-device-related infections. To that regard, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide, Dhvar5, was grafted onto chitosan via thiol–norbornene “photoclick” chemistry. Dhvar5-chitosan nanogels (Dhvar5-NG) were then produced using a microfluidic system. Dhvar5-NG (1010 nanogels (NG)/mL) with a Dhvar5 concentration of 6 μg/mL reduced the burden of the most critical bacteria in orthopedic infections - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – after 24 h in medium supplemented with human plasma proteins. Transmission electron microscopy showed that Dhvar5-NG killed bacteria by membrane disruption and cytoplasm release. No signs of cytotoxicity against a pre-osteoblast cell line were verified upon incubation with Dhvar5-NG. To further explore therapeutic alternatives, the potential synergistic effect of Dhvar5-NG with antibiotics was evaluated against MRSA. Dhvar5-NG at a sub-minimal inhibitory concentration (109 NG/mL) demonstrated synergistic effect with oxacillin (4-fold reduction: from 2 to 0.5 μg/mL) and piperacillin (2-fold reduction: from 2 to 1 μg/mL). This work supports the use of Dhvar5-NG as adjuvant of antibiotics to the prevention of orthopedic devices-related infections.
Original languageEnglish
Article number134059
Number of pages14
JournalInternational Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Volume277
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Antimicrobial peptides
  • Chitosan nanoparticles
  • Thiol−ene click chemistry
  • Piperacillin
  • Oxacillin
  • Synergistic effect

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