Whey protein-based emulsion microcontainers for prolonged antibacterial therapy

Abstract

Bacterial infections of the urinary system are one of the serious problems of modern medicine. The search for new promising drugs for antibacterial therapy and the development of more advanced dosage forms and delivery systems for existing antibiotics are both actual tasks for biomedical research.
We have developed emulsion microgels (EM) based on a whey protein solution with different ratios of water:oil fractions (1:3, 1:5), containing cephalosporin antibacterial drugs (cefazolin and ceftriaxone). Basing on the obtained data on the degree of loading and release rate of antibiotics from EM, the antimicrobial activity of these drugs on Escherichia coli was studied. According to the experimental results, all EM samples containing cefazolin caused inhibition of E. coli growth for 7 days, of which complete inhibition of bacterial growth was observed for 2 days for EM 1:3 and 3 days for EM 1:5. Microgels containing ceftriaxone demonstrated an antibacterial effect for 14 days. At the same time, the bactericidal nature of the action was observed for 10 days for EM 1:3 and 13 days for EM 1:5. Free ceftriaxone also had an antimicrobial effect for 14 days, however, the duration of the complete growth inhibition period in all control samples was significantly shorter in comparison to microgel samples.
It has been established that the immobilization of antibacterial drugs (cefazolin, ceftriaxone) in emulsion microgels based on whey protein does not lead to a decrease in their effectiveness, but allows to significantly increase the duration and intensity of the action of these drugs.

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 21-75-10042).

Speaker

Валентина Олеговна Пластун
Saratov State University
Россия

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