Nanocidals Therapy for Osteomyelitis
Infection is a major medical problem that causes serious complications including patient death.
The mortality rate of invasive infection has reduced significantly since the introduction of
antibiotherapy[1]. However, the resistance to antibiotic is becoming a serious medical problem
that resulted in high medical cost[2]. The overall aim of this study is to evaluate a potential
inorganic route (metalo-antibiotic) to treat localized infections that require long-term antibiotic
treatment combined with medical and surgical intervention. In this study osteomyelitis (bone
infection) was selected as a model to evaluate the inorganic route to treat infection.
Osteomyelitis is a progressive infection that could result in amputation of patient death. The
metalo-antibiotics are faster to develop than antibiotics and have shown great efficacy against a
wide range of bacterial infection.
A unique composition of particles with ability to extend their residual efficacy on bacteria for an
extended time compared to conventional antibiotics was synthesized and evaluated in this study.
The in vitro experiments demonstrated the metalo-antibiotics to treat cellular internal infections
without damaging the home cell. The in vivo toxicity experiments demonstrated a tolerance of
the particles for doses that are 20 times higher than the anticipated treatment dose. A murine
mouse model for osteomyelitis was developed. The efficacy of the metalo-antibiotics on the
induced osteomyelitis was evaluated. A significant decrease in infection in the bones treated with
nanoparticles was observed. By delivering optimal concentration of nanoparticles in mouse
models there was no sign of pathology seen mouse.
Overall, this study has two main impacts: a) creation of inorganic routes to fight against bacterial
infection particularly those requiring long-term antibiotic or surgical treatment and/or are
polymicrobial b) reduction of critical technical risk through generation of pre-clinical data of the
employment of inorganic antibacterial complexes.
References:
1.
2.
Brady, R.A., et al., Resolution of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm infection using vaccination and
antibiotic treatment. Infect Immun, 2011. 79(4): p. 1797-803.
Kaya, G., et al., The use of 808-nm light therapy to treat experimental chronic osteomyelitis
induced in rats by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Photomed Laser Surg, 2011.
29(6): p. 405-12.