Thermosensitive Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Hybrid Hydrogel Enhances the Antibacterial Efficiency of Erythromycin in Bacterial Keratitis

Thermosensitive Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Hybrid Hydrogel Enhances the Antibacterial Efficiency of Erythromycin in Bacterial Keratitis

Biomaterials Research

10.34133/bmr.0033

http://dx.doi.org/10.34133/bmr.0033

Lan Zheng, Ying Chen, Yi Han, Jingwei Lin, Kai Fan, Mengyuan Wang, Ting Teng, Xiuqin Yang, Lingjie Ke, Muyuan Li, Shujia Guo, Zibiao Li, Yunlong Wu, Cheng Li

22 July 2024

Zheng, L., Chen, Y., Han, Y., Lin, J., Fan, K., Wang, M., Teng, T., Yang, X., Ke, L., Li, M., Guo, S., Li, Z., Wu, Y., & Li, C. (2024). Thermosensitive Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Hybrid Hydrogel Enhances the Antibacterial Efficiency of Erythromycin in Bacterial Keratitis. Biomaterials Research, 28. https://doi.org/10.34133/bmr.0033

Bacterial keratitis is a serious ocular infection that can impair vision or even cause blindness. The clinical use of antibiotics is limited due to their low bioavailability and drug resistance. Hence, there is a need to develop a novel drug delivery system for this infectious disease. In this study, erythromycin (EM) was encapsulated into a bifunctional polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (BPOSS) with the backbone of the poly-PEG/PPG urethane (BPEP) hydrogel with the aim of improving the drug efficiency in treating bacterial keratitis. A comprehensive characterization of the BPEP hydrogel was performed, and its biocompatibility was assessed. Furthermore, we carried out the evaluation of the antimicrobial effect of the BPEP-EM hydrogel in S. aureus keratitis using in vivo mouse model. The BPEP hydrogel exhibited self-assembling and thermogelling properties, which assisted the drug loading of drug EM and improved its water solubility. Furthermore, the BPEP hydrogel could effectively bind with mucin on the ocular surface, thereby markedly prolonging the ocular residence time of EM. In vivo testing confirmed that the BPEP-EM hydrogel exerted a potent therapeutic action in the mouse model of bacterial keratitis. In addition, the hydrogel also exhibited an excellent biocompatibility. Our findings demonstrate that the BPEP-EM hydrogel showed a superior therapeutic effect in bacterial keratitis and demonstrated its potential as an ophthalmic formulation.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This project is supported by grants from the collaborator, including The National Key R&D Program of China, Xiamen Cell Therapy Research Center, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

https://oar.a-star.edu.sg/communities-collections/articles/20750

2055-7124

Institute of Materials Research and Engineering

https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/bmr.0033