Increases in antibiotic resistances to all types of bacteria are a raising concern worldwide. The frequency of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria has increased with increasing usage of antimicrobial compounds.
Infections caused by Multi-Drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR TB) and Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lead to serious diseases which usually require intensive care treatment with a long hospitalization. The portfolio of available antibiotics for treating antibiotic resistant bacterial infections is very limited and comprises of molecules that induce severe side effects and / or are difficult to administrate, as they often need parenteral injection. New drugs or at least new formulations of known drugs that provide better efficacy are urgently needed for a faster, more efficient and less impairing treatment. The possibility of using novel drug delivery systems for known and new antibiotic drugs opens the way to an innovative management of infections caused by drug resistant bacteria, which are otherwise difficult to treat.
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The main goal of this project is to propose nanotechnology solutions to the problem of MDR TB and MRSA infections by the design, preparation and optimization of several nanoformulations of current antibiotics and novel antibacterial drugs. SINTEF contributes to several work packages by both developing novel antibiotic-loaded polymeric nanoparticles, thorough characterization of antibiotic content and release from nanoformulations, in vitro testing of efficacy of antibiotic-loaded nanoformulations in cell-based assays and biofilms of MRSA and studies of biodistribution of nanoformulations and antibiotics in organs and tissue of mice.
NAREB is a European project (Collaborative Research Project) project in the 7th Framwork program and is funded under the Grant Agreement No 604237. Professor Brigitte Gicquel from Institut Pasteur (France) is the coordinator. The consortium brings together 15 partners from 8 countries.
