Early modulation of pro-inflammatory microglia by minocycline loaded nanoparticles confers long lasting protection after spinal cord injury.

Many efforts have been performed in order to understand the role of recruited macrophages in the progression of spinal cord injury (SCI). Different studies revealed a pleiotropic effect played by these cells associated to distinct phenotypes (M1 and M2), showing a predictable spatial and temporal distribution in the injured site after SCI. Differently, the role of activated microglia in injury progression has been poorly investigated, mainly because of the challenges to target and selectively modulate them in situ. A delivery nanovector tool (poly-ε-caprolactone-based nanoparticles) able to selectively treat/target microglia has been developed and used here to clarify the temporal and spatial involvement of the pro-inflammatory response associated to microglial cells in SCI. We show that a treatment with nanoparticles loaded with minocycline, the latter a well-known anti-inflammatory drug, when administered acutely in a SCI mouse model is able to efficiently modulate the resident microglial cells reducing the pro-inflammatory response, maintaining a pro-regenerative milieu and ameliorating the behavioral outcome up to 63 days post injury. Furthermore, by using this selective delivery tool we demonstrate a mechanistic link between early microglia activation and M1 macrophages recruitment to the injured site via CCL2 chemokine, revealing a detrimental contribution of pro-inflammatory macrophages to injury progression after SCI.

Photodynamic antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of RLP068/Cl against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa forming biofilms on prosthetic material.

Prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are becoming a growing public health concern in developed countries as more people undergo arthroplasty for bone fixation or joint replacement. Because a wide range of bacterial strains responsible for PJIs can produce biofilms on prosthetic implants and because the biofilm structure confers elevated bacterial resistance to antibiotic therapy, new drugs and therapies are needed to improve the clinical outcome of treatment of PJIs. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (APDT), a non-antibiotic broad-spectrum antimicrobial treatment, is also active against multidrug-resistant micro-organisms such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. APDT uses a photosensitiser that targets bacterial cells following exposure to visible light. APDT with RLP068/Cl, a novel photosensitiser, was studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to evaluate the disruption of MRSA and P. aeruginosa biofilms on prosthetic material. Quantitative CLSM studies showed a reduction in biofilm biomass (biofilm disruption) and a decrease in viable cell numbers, as determined by standard plate counting, in the S. aureus and P. aeruginosa biofilms exposed to APDT with the photosensitiser RLP068/Cl. APDT with RLP068/Cl may be a useful approach to the treatment of PJI-associated biofilms.