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Article
Liposomal Bismuth-Ethanedithiol Formulation Enhances Antimicrobial Activity of Tobramycin
International Journal of Pharmaceutis (2008)
  • Majed Halwani
  • Shanna Blomme
  • Zacharias E. Suntres
  • Misagh Alipour
  • Ali Azghani, University of Texas at Tyler
  • Aseem Kumar
  • Abdelwahab Omri
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cenocepacia (formally, genomovar III genotype of Burkholderia cepacia complex) have emerged as serious opportunistic resistant pathogens in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We have developed a liposomal formulation containing bismuth-ethanedithiol (BiEDT) and tobramycin to overcome bacterial resistance. The stability of liposomal BiEDT-tobramycin (LipoBiEDT-TOB) was studied in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and human pooled plasma at 4 and 37 °C. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) for free tobramycin and LipoBiEDT-TOB against clinical isolates of P. aeruginosaand B. cenocepacia were determined by the broth dilution method. The toxicity profile and the influence on bacterial adhesion of LipoBiEDT-TOB formulation were determined using a human lung carcinoma cell line (A549). LipoBiEDT-TOB exhibited lower MICs than the conventional antibiotic (0.25 mg/L vs. 1024 mg/L) and eradicated this highly resistant bacterial strain of P. aeruginosa (PA-48913) at very low concentrations (4 mg/L vs. 4096 mg/L). LipoBiEDT-TOB was significantly less toxic when compared to the free BiEDT, as evaluated by the MTT and LDH assay. The LipoBiEDT-TOB formulation suppressed bacterial adhesion (B. cenocepacia M13642R) to A549 cells. These data suggest that the novel LipoBiEDT-TOB drug delivery system could be utilized as a new strategy to enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics against resistant organisms that commonly affect individuals with chronic lung infections.
Keywords
  • Liposomal-(bismuth ethanedithiol),
  • MICs,
  • MBCs,
  • Toxicity,
  • Bacterial adhesion,
  • Burkholderia cenocepacia,
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
  • Staphylococcus aureus
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 2008
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2008.03.008
Citation Information
Halwani, M, Shanna Blomme , Zacharias E. Suntres, Misagh Alipour, Ali O. Azghani, Aseem Kumar, Abdelwahab Omri. 2008. Liposomal Bismuth-Ethanedithiol Formulation Enhances Antimicrobial Activity of Tobramycin. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2008, 358(1-2): 254-63.