Prevention of Murine Influenza a Virus Pneumonitis by Surfactant Nano-Emulsions

Abstract

Non-ionic surfactant nano-emulsions have extensive anti-microbial activity and are biocompatible with skin and mucous membranes at effective concentrations. Two nano-emulsion formulations (8N8 and 20N10) made from soybean oil, tributyl phosphate and Triton X-100, were tested for their ability to prevent murine influenza virus pneumonia in vivo. In the initial study, CD-1 mice were administered various dilutions of the nano-emulsions intranasally, and safe dosages and concentrations were determined. Non-toxic concentrations of the nano-emulsions were then mixed with influenza virus and applied to the nares of mice. Animals receiving mixtures of two different emulsions (8N8 or 20N10) and a LD50 of virus survived the challenge without evidence of viral infection. To determine if the nano-emulsions could prevent influenza virus infection in vivo when used as a prophylactic treatment, the nano-emulsions (8N8 at 1.0% and 20N10 at 1.0% or 0.2%) were applied to mouse nares 90 min before exposure to 5×105 p.f.u./ml virus by nebulized aerosol. Animals pretreated with the nano-emulsions had significantly decreased clinical signs of infection. Only 26.0% (8N8 at 1.0%), 31.25% (20N10 at 1.0%) and 37.0% (20N10 at 0.2%) of animals pretreated with nano-emulsion died from pneumonitis, whereas >80.0% of mock pretreated animals succumbed to infection ( P<0.005). These findings suggest that non-ionic surfactant nano-emulsions have therapeutic potential for the prevention of influenza virus infection in vivo.

Influence of sunflower oil based nanoemulsion (AUSN-4) on the shelf life and quality of Indo-Pacific king mackerel (Scomberomorus guttatus) steaks stored at 20 °C

“…Numerous reports suggest their adverse effect on the structure and function on bacteria (Bortoleto, DeOliveira, Ruller, Arni, & Ward, 1998;Friberg, 1984;Jones, Song, Kaszuba, & Reboiras, 1997), fungi (Hamouda et al, 1999;Myc et al, 2001;Zhang et al, 2008) and viruses (Chepurnov et al, 2003;Donovan et al, 2000) by destabilizing the organism's lipid envelope (Baker, Hamouda, Shih, & Andrzej, 2003).…”

A Novel, Killed-Virus Nasal Vaccinia Virus Vaccine

“…We used a nanoscale (Ͻ400-nm) oil-in-water emulsion as a formulation for a killedvirus mucosal smallpox vaccine. The antimicrobial spectrum of nanoemulsions (NE) is broad and includes enveloped viruses, bacteria, fungi, and spores (7,17,18,30). Formulations similar to the one used for vaccine have been demonstrated as safe and effective in animal tests and in human trials for herpetic cold sores (23).…”

Antimicrobial Activity of Nanoemulsion in Combination with Cetylpyridinium Chloride in Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

“…This lack of effective and safe treatment options for A. baumannii has led to the continued development of novel antimicrobial agents. Antimicrobial nanoemulsions are surfactant-containing oilin-water emulsions (particle size, 100 to 800 nm) which are very effective against many bacteria, enveloped virus, fungi, and spores (8,27) at concentrations that are nonirritating to skin or mucous membranes of animals (28). The antimicrobial activity and mechanism of nanoemulsions are believed to function as a result of the ability of the nanoemulsions to fuse with the outer membranes of microorganisms, with the electrostatic interaction between the cationic charge of the nanoparticles and the anionic charge on the microorganisms (10) ultimately destabilizing the membrane's lipid bilayers and its cellular permeability, leading to disruption (29); hence the broad spectrum activity of these particles.…”