No abstract

Nowadays, there is an urgent need to discover and develop long-term and effective antimicrobial and biofilm-inhibiting compounds. Employing combination therapies using novel drug delivery systems and also natural antimicrobial substances is a promising strategy in this field. Nanoparticles (NPs)-based materials have become well appreciated in recent times due to serve as antimicrobial agents or the carriers for promoting the bioavailability and effectiveness of antibiotics. Flavonoids belong to the promising groups of bioactive compounds abundantly found in fruits, vegetables, spices, and medicinal plants with strong antimicrobial features. Flavonoids and NPs have potential as alternatives to the conventional antimicrobial agents, both on their own as well as in combination. Different classes of flavonoid NPs may be particularly advantageous in handling microbial infections. The most important antimicrobial mechanisms of flavonoid NPs include oxidative stress induction, non-oxidative mechanisms, and metal ion release. However, the efficacy of flavonoid NPs against pathogens and drug-resistant pathogens changes according to their physicochemical characteristics as well as the particular structure of microbial cell wall and enzymatic composition. In this review, we provide an outlook on the antimicrobial mechanism of flavonoid-based NPs and the crucial factors that are involved.

The patient was a 52-year-old woman with approximately 6 years’ history of uncontrolled diabetes mellites and hypothyroidism, who presented with cough, sputum and dyspnea 2 months ago.

Infection of the central nervous system (CNS) is a global healthcare concern with high rates of death and disease. CNS infections mainly include meningitis, encephalitis, and brain abscesses. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and parasites are the most common causes of neuroinfections.There are many types of medications used in the treatment of CNS infections, but drug delivery through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major challenge to be overcome. The BBB is a specialized multicellular barrier separating the neural tissue from the peripheral blood circulation. Unique characteristics of the BBB allow it to tightly control the movement of ions and molecules.Thus, there is a critical need to deal with these conditions with the aim of improving novel antimicrobial agents. Researchers are still struggling to find effective drugs to treat CNS infections. Nanoparticle (NP)-mediated drug delivery has been considered as a profound substitute to solve this problem, because NPs can be tailored to facilitate drug transport across the BBB. NPs are colloidal systems with a size range of 1-1000 nm which can be used to encapsulate therapeutics, improve drug transport across the BBB, and target specific brain areas in CNS infections. A wide variety of NPs have been displayed for the CNS delivery of therapeutics, especially when their surfaces are coated with targeting moieties. The present paper aimed to review the available literature on the application of NPs in CNS infections.