RESUMO
Salmonella Typhi is an intracellular bacterium causing a variety of enteric diseases, being typhoid fever the most common. Current modalities for treating S. typhi infection are subjected to multi-drug resistance. Herein, a novel macrophage targeting approach was developed via coating bioinspired mannosylated preactivated hyaluronic acid (Man-PTHA) ligands on a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) loaded with the anti-bacterial drug ciprofloxacin (CIP). The shake flask method was used to determine the drug solubility in the different excipients (oil, surfactants and co-surfactants). Man-PTHA were characterized by physicochemical, in vitro, and in vivo parameters. The mean droplet size was 257 nm, with a PDI of 0.37 and zeta potential of -15 mV. In 72 h, 85 % of the drug was released in a sustained manner, and the entrapment efficiency was 95 %. Outstanding biocompatibility, mucoadhesion, muco-penetration, anti-bacterial action and hemocompatibility were observed. Intra-macrophage survival of S. typhi was minimal (1 %) with maximum nanoparticle uptake, as shown by their higher fluorescence intensity. Serum biochemistry evaluation showed no significant changes or toxicity, and histopathological evaluation confirmed the entero-protective nature of the bioinspired polymers. Overall, results confirm that Man-PTHA SNEDDS can be employed as novel and effective delivery systems for the therapeutic management of S. typhi infection.