Optimising intracellular delivery of antibiotic loaded PLGA nanoparticles to macrophages

Bacteria can evade antimicrobial therapy by hiding inside host cells such as macrophages. Here we examine the ability of PLGA nanoparticles to deliver antibiotics to intracellular bacteria, specifically focusing upon the impact of nanoparticle size. Different sized Rhodamine-B conjugated PLGA nanoparticles were synthesized and uptake examined in two macrophage cell lines, as well as different epithelial cells, to determine the optimal properties for macrophage uptake. These studies demonstrate macrophages display a consistent increase in uptake with increased PLGA nanoparticle diameter. In a bacteria-macrophage co-culture model, we then examined the efficacy of different sized antibiotic-loaded PLGA nanoparticles against intracellular infections with K. pneumoniae and S. aureus. Increasing the size of antibiotic-loaded PLGA nanoparticles significantly increased their potency against intracellular K. pneumoniae. However, this was not observed for S. aureus, potentially due to the observation these nanoparticles failed to access the compartment in which S. aureus reside. This work demonstrates for the first time that increasing the size of antibiotic-loaded PLGA nanoparticles can significantly enhance antimicrobial efficacy against K. pneumoniae intracellular macrophage infections. However, our S. aureus studies indicate this is not a 'one size fits all' approach for all intracellular infections.