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Volume 6
Journal of Infectious Diseases & Therapy
Tropical & Bacterial Diseases 2018
December 05-06, 2018
Page 36
conference
series
.com
Annual Conference on
Bacterial, Viral and Infectious Diseases
&
Neglected Tropical Diseases Congress: The Future Challenges
December 05-06, 2018 Dubai, UAE
Drug delivery by tattooing to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis
Background:
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease that is caused by obligate intra-macrophage protozoa of the Leishmania
species. Leishmaniasis can cause different clinical syndromes, including Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL), in which the patient
generally presents with one or several ulcer(s) or nodule(s) on the skin, resulting from the infection of phagocytic cells located
in the dermis. It often results into severe scar tissue in the skin. Most of the twelve million people infected with leishmania
worldwide are CL cases, a 1.5 million new cases occur annually.
Objective:
WHO has a program to develop new treatments for CL. This study establishes a proof-of-concept that a tattoo
device can target intra-dermal drug delivery against CL.
Methods:
The selected drug is Oleylphosphocholine (OlPC) formulated as liposomes, particles known to be prone to
macrophage ingestion. First is shown that treatment of cultured leishmania-infected macrophages with OlPC-liposomes
results in a direct dose-dependent killing of intracellular parasites. Based on this,
in vivo
efficacy is demonstrated using a 10
day tattooing-mediated treatment in mice infected with
L. major
and
L. mexicana
. In both models this regimen results in rapid
clinical recovery with complete regression of skin lesions by day 28. Parasite counts and histopathology examination confirm
high treatment efficacy at the parasitic level. Low amount of drug required for tattooing combined with fast clinical recovery
may have a positive impact on CL patient management.
Results & Conclusion:
This first example of tattoo-mediated drug delivery could open to new therapeutic interventions in
the treatment of skin diseases. This study demonstrates that the use of a tattoo instrument for drug delivery is possible in
the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis and that this method can successfully eliminate intracellular parasites at the site
of infection. After showing that the selected drug oleylphosphocholine (OlPC) formulated as liposomes could efficiently
reach intracellular parasites when in contact with infected macrophages, the activity of the drug was compared
in vivo
in
mouse models of old (
L. major
) and new world (
L. mexicana
) leishmaniasis. Three routes of administrations of the same drug
formulation were investigated: Systemic (IP) administration, topical administration as a drop and administration via the tattoo
instrument. Evaluation parameters included clinical (lesion sizes) and parasitological parameters (burdens) using quantitative
and qualitative methods. In all experiments, the tattooing delivery procedure was the most efficacious at both the clinical and
parasitological levels.
Biography
Strategic and creative consultant in biomedical science, with a parallel career in the Dutch Civil-Military Interaction Command in which he has responsibility for
the counter measures in CBNRe threats and (medical) consequence management both in a military and a civilian (terrorism) setting. He was the director of the
2014 & 2016 World Congress of CBRNe Science & Consequence Management in Tbilisi, Georgia. He works internationally as consultant or scientific supervisory
board member for several medical and biotech companies, merely involved in biodefense, clinical diagnostics and therapies. He is also visiting professor for
Punjab University in Pakistan and Rhein-Waal University in Germany and visiting professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He has finished both his studies
in Medicine and in Biochemistry at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands and has extensive practical experience in cell biology, immuno-haematology,
biodefense and transfusion medicine. His natural business acumen and negotiation competence helps to initiate new successful businesses, often created out of
unexpected combinations of technologies. His thorough understanding of abstract science combined with excellent skills in the communication of scientific matters
to non-specialists, helps him with strategic consulting at top level management.
Stef.Stienstra@inter.nl.netStef Stienstra
Dutch Armed Forces, Netherlands
Stef Stienstra, J Infect Dis Ther 2018, Volume 6
DOI: 10.4172/2332-0877-C7-055