An pH-Responsive Liposome for the Targeted Treatment of Helicobacter Pylori

Abstract

Objectives With the increase of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) drug resistance, it is increasingly difficult to cure H. pylori fundamentally. Frequent and excessive use of antibiotics can lead to disturbances in the intestinal flora and even inflammatory bowel disease, so new drugs are urgently needed. Luteolin (LUT) has been found to have antimicrobial effects, but its water solubility is very low, and the antimicrobial effect is not ideal. To improve the water solubility of LUT and enhance its antibacterial activity, we encapsulated it with liposomes and coated it with chitosan quaternary ammonium salts to increase its targeting and acid responsiveness.

Results Compared with LUT, H-L-NPs solubility is significantly improved, and the MIC is reduced by 1024 times, which is also effective against drug-resistant strains. The effect of in vivo treatment is significantly better than that of clinical triple therapy. In addition, H-L-NPs have the advantages of high safety and specificity, which can target the treatment of gastric H. pylori and maintain the diversity of intestinal microbiota, and H. pylori is not easy to develop drug resistance, making it a very promising anti-H. pylori lead.In conclusion, H-L-NPs greatly improved the antimicrobial activity of LUT in vivo and in vitro, and possessed the antimicrobial advantages of high targeting, acid responsiveness, specificity, and low toxicity. It is a kind of anti-H. pylori agent with a broad application prospect.

Note:
Funding declaration: This study was financially supported by the Program for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 32060018, 32360035), the National Guangxi Science and Technology Major project (Grant No. AA23073012), the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant No.2308085QH245), the InnovationProject of Guangxi Graduate Education YCSW2023499.

Conflict of Interests: The authors declare no confict of interest.

Ethical Approval: With the approval of the animal ethics committee of Youjiang Medical University For Nationalities with a license number of 2022092901.

Keywords: Luteolin, liposomes, Chitosan quaternary ammonium salt, Anti-H. pylori, Acid response