Spray dried curcumin loaded nanoparticles for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious problems that researchers of multiple disciplines are working on. The number of new antibiotics and their targeted structures have continuously decreased emphasizing the demand of alternative therapy for bacterial infections. Photodynamic therapy is such a promising strategy that has been proven to be effective against a wide range of bacterial strains. In this study, an inhalable nano-formulation for photodynamic therapy against respiratory infections was developed in the form of nano-in-microparticles consisting of curcumin nanoparticles embedded in a mannitol matrix. The produced nano-in-microparticles exhibited suitable aerodynamic properties with a mass median aerodynamic diameter of 2.88 +/- 0.13 mu m and a high fine particle fraction of 60.99 +/- 9.50%. They could be readily redispersed in an aqueous medium producing the original nanoparticles without any substantial changes in their properties. This was confirmed using dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy. Furthermore, the redispersed nano particles showed an efficient antibacterial photoactivity causing 99.99992% (6.1 log(10)) and 97.75% (1.6 log(10)) reduction in the viability of Staphylococcus saprophylicus subsp. bovis and Escherichia coli DH5 alpha respectively. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that nano-in-microparticles represent promising drug delivery systems for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy.