Polyanhydride Nanoparticle Delivery Platform Dramatically Enhances Killing of Filarial Worms.
Filarial diseases represent a significant social and economic burden to over 120 million people worldwide and are caused by endoparasites that require the presence of symbiotic bacteria of the genus Wolbachia for fertility and viability of the host parasite. Targeting Wolbachia for elimination is a therapeutic approach that shows promise in the treatment of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. Here we demonstrate the use of a biodegradable polyanhydride nanoparticle-based platform for the co-delivery of the antibiotic doxycycline with the antiparasitic drug, ivermectin, to reduce microfilarial burden and rapidly kill adult worms. When doxycycline and ivermectin were co-delivered within polyanhydride nanoparticles, effective killing of adult female Brugia malayi filarial worms was achieved with approximately 4,000-fold reduction in the amount of drug used. Additionally the time to death of the macrofilaria was also significantly reduced (five-fold) when the anti-filarial drug cocktail was delivered within polyanhydride nanoparticles. We hypothesize that the mechanism behind this dramatically enhanced killing of the macrofilaria is the ability of the polyanhydride nanoparticles to behave as a Trojan horse and penetrate the cuticle, bypassing excretory pumps of B. malayi, and effectively deliver drug directly to both the worm and Wolbachia at high enough microenvironmental concentrations to cause death. These provocative findings may have significant consequences for the reduction in the amount of drug and the length of treatment required for filarial infections in terms of patient compliance and reduced cost of treatment.
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Andrea M
AM
Binnebose
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Shannon L
SL
Haughney
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Richard
R
Martin
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Paula M
PM
Imerman
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Balaji
B
Narasimhan
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.
Bryan H
BH
Bellaire
D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017178:Brugia malayi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000494:pharmacology; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000378:metabolism*; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000494:pharmacology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000378:metabolism*; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D049388:Polyanhydrides / Q000378:metabolism*; D016019:Survival Analysis
D000871:Anthelmintics; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D049388:Polyanhydrides; D007559:Ivermectin; D004318:Doxycycline