Antibiotics are usually only needed at particular sites, where infection is likely to start. Yet, they’re delivered throughout the entire body via pills and injections. This results in poor localized effectiveness, unnecessary effects on the rest of the body, and sometimes leads to the development of resistance.
Researchers at Flinders University in Australia and National Institute for Materials Science in Japan have joined forces to develop a special nanomesh material that can release antibiotics in a programmed way precisely where they’re needed.
The nanomeshes were produced using electrospinning, a process that creates fine fibers onto which other substances can be attached. These fibers, only 200 nanometers in diameter, randomly weave together to form a material with a great deal of surface area within a very small volume.
The antibiotics Colistin and Vancomycin were embedded within the mesh along with gold nanoparticles, which seem to help stabilize the drug. During a two week trial period, the nanomeshes, after a bit of tinkering, were able to sustain a controlled release of the drugs.
It is hoped that this new material will be useful for surgical applications, and not just on exterior wounds. It would allow patients to not be exposed to the high doses of antibiotics that follow many surgical procedures, while the surgical site would actually be exposed to a great deal more of the medicine than with systemic injections.
Study in journal RSC Advances: Nanoparticles in an antibiotic-loaded nanomesh for drug delivery
Via: Flinders University