The current pandemic COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has been affecting thousands of people worldwide, promoting high numbers of deaths. With this, the world population is going through a process of changing habits, with social distance, improvement of hygiene techniques, to reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and, consequently, reduce the number of hospitalized people in serious condition, as well as the mortality rate. This scenario has been promoting a continuous search for researchers, in the most varied areas, for possible methods of prevention or cure. Specifically, in the field of pharmaceutical nanotechnology, a variety of products are being developed against SARS-CoV-2. Under these circumstances, we propose here an exposition of some of the nanotechnological products (nanoscale between 1 to 1000 nm) currently designed for the detection of the virus, for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, in addition to equipment for personal protection. We believe that pharmaceutical nanotechnology will be a valuable tool in the disease from the development of products that guarantee our protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has acquired resistance and
consequently the antibiotic therapeutic options available against this microorganism
are limited. In this scenario, the use of usnic acid (UA), a natural compound,
encapsulated into liposomes is proposed as a new approach in multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis (MDR-TB) therapy. Thus the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect
of the encapsulation of UA into liposomes, as well as its combination with
antituberculous agents such as rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH) against MDR-TB
clinical isolates. The in vitro antimycobacterial activity of UA-loaded liposomes
(UA-Lipo) against MDR-TB was assessed by the microdilution method. The in vitro
interaction of UA with antituberculous agents was carried out using checkerboard
method. Minimal inhibitory concentration values were 31.25 and 0.98 µg/mL for UA and
UA-Lipo, respectively. The results exhibited a synergistic interaction between RIF
and UA [fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) = 0.31] or UA-Lipo (FICI =
0.28). Regarding INH, the combination of UA or UA-Lipo revealed no marked effect
(FICI = 1.30-2.50). The UA-Lipo may be used as a dosage form to improve the
antimycobacterial activity of RIF, a first-line drug for the treatment of infections
caused by Mtb.
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