Microencapsulation of Clostridium difficile specific bacteriophages using microfluidic glass capillary devices for colon delivery using pH triggered release.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Microencapsulation of Clostridium difficile specific bacteriophages using microfluidic glass capillary devices for colon delivery using pH triggered release.
Authors: Gurinder K Vinner, Goran T Vladisavljević, Martha R J Clokie, Danish J Malik
Source: PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 10, p e0186239 (2017)
Publisher Information: Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2017.
Publication Year: 2017
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Medicine, Science
More Details: The prevalence of pathogenic bacteria acquiring multidrug antibiotic resistance is a global health threat to mankind. This has motivated a renewed interest in developing alternatives to conventional antibiotics including bacteriophages (viruses) as therapeutic agents. The bacterium Clostridium difficile causes colon infection and is particularly difficult to treat with existing antibiotics; phage therapy may offer a viable alternative. The punitive environment within the gastrointestinal tract can inactivate orally delivered phages. C. difficile specific bacteriophage, myovirus CDKM9 was encapsulated in a pH responsive polymer (Eudragit® S100 with and without alginate) using a flow focussing glass microcapillary device. Highly monodispersed core-shell microparticles containing phages trapped within the particle core were produced by in situ polymer curing using 4-aminobenzoic acid dissolved in the oil phase. The size of the generated microparticles could be precisely controlled in the range 80 μm to 160 μm through design of the microfluidic device geometry and by varying flow rates of the dispersed and continuous phase. In contrast to free 'naked' phages, those encapsulated within the microparticles could withstand a 3 h exposure to simulated gastric fluid at pH 2 and then underwent a subsequent pH triggered burst release at pH 7. The significance of our research is in demonstrating that C. difficile specific phage can be formulated and encapsulated in highly uniform pH responsive microparticles using a microfluidic system. The microparticles were shown to afford significant protection to the encapsulated phage upon prolonged exposure to an acid solution mimicking the human stomach environment. Phage encapsulation and subsequent release kinetics revealed that the microparticles prepared using Eudragit® S100 formulations possess pH responsive characteristics with phage release triggered in an intestinal pH range suitable for therapeutic purposes. The results reported here provide proof-of-concept data supporting the suitability of our approach for colon targeted delivery of phages for therapeutic purposes.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1932-6203
Relation: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5638336?pdf=render; https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186239
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/9d2be74d3973400b89c58146acfdcba9
Accession Number: edsdoj.9d2be74d3973400b89c58146acfdcba9
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:19326203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0186239
Published in:PLoS ONE
Language:English