Stabilising a mucus attacking enzyme with cross-links could allow it to be delivered orally to fight infections in cystic fibrosis patients.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the commonest opportunistic pathogens in cystic fibrosis. The bacterium produces alginate, a polysaccharide which causes significant mucus build-up in the lungs and intestine. In addition to affecting patients’ quality of life, this also significantly obstructs the delivery of antibiotics, requiring increased dosages which can lead to antibiotic resistance and an increased chance of side-effects.
Guillermo Castro at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, and his team, investigate the delivery of drugs with significant administrative problems’…
Interested? If so, read the full article at Chemistry World here.
Development of novel alginate lyase cross-linked aggregates for the oral treatment of cystic fibrosis
G. A. Islan, Y. N. Martinez, A. Illanes and G. R. Castro
RSC Adv., 2014, 4, 11758-11765
DOI: 10.1039/C3RA47850E
