posted on 2022-06-14, 18:03authored bySuzana Hamdan, Bapurao Surnar, Alexia L. Kafkoutsou, Luciano Magurno, Sapna K. Deo, Dushyantha T. Jayaweera, Shanta Dhar, Sylvia Daunert
Improved techniques
were applied to formulate drugs into dimensional
nanostructures, doped “nanovesicles”. These nanovesicles
are solely composed of self-assembled amphiphilic antiviral agents
used for the treatment of viral infections caused by flaviviruses,
such as Zika virus. Studies were done to evaluate the effectiveness
of the syntheses, formation, and performance under different experimental
conditions, and behavior of the drug nanovesicles in vitro and in vivo. These studies demonstrated that assembling
the hydrophobic antiviral drug molecules into nanodrugs is a successful
technique for the delivery of the therapeutic agents, otherwise difficult
to be supplied. Our studies confirmed that this nanodrug preserved
and, in many cases, enhanced the embedded cellular activity of the
parental free drug molecules, both in vitro and in vivo. This proposed formulation is highly important as
it addresses the issue of insolubility and low bioavailabiity of a
wide range of highly potent pharmaceutical drugsnot limited
to a specific class of antiviral drugsthat are of high demand
for the treatment of medical conditions and emerging pathogens.