Microcontainers for improved treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infections

Lung infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa are difficult to eradicate as it forms biofilm that protects the bacteria from the host immune response and hinders antibiotics to reach the site of infection [1]. Inhaled powdered antibiotics have the limitation that they distribute in all areas of the lungs and a certain degree of dilution takes place hence, a more targeted delivery is needed. Micrometer sized polymeric containers (microcontainers) have been developed for oral delivery of therapeutics and studies have shown that the microcontainers are engulfed by the intestinal mucus [2]. We hypothesize that the microcontainers can be utilized in the treatment of biofilms as they are suggested to penetrate the biofilm and release the antibiotics in a more controlled manner at the target site compared to conventional inhaled antibiotics. Therefore, the purpose of this work was to load microcontainers with antibiotic, to coat with three different coatings and lastly test the microcontainers on P. aeruginosa grown planktonically or as biofilm.