Bionized Nanoferrite Particles Alter the Course of Experimental Cryptococcus neoformans Pneumonia

Livia C Liporagi Lopes; Preethi Korangath; Samuel R Dos Santos Jr; Kathleen L Gabrielson; Robert Ivkov; Arturo Casadevall

doi:10.1128/aac.02399-21

Bionized Nanoferrite Particles Alter the Course of Experimental Cryptococcus neoformans Pneumonia

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2022 Apr 19;66(4):e0239921. doi: 10.1128/aac.02399-21. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

Authors

Livia C Liporagi Lopes^#^{1

2}, Preethi Korangath^#³, Samuel R Dos Santos Jr^{1

4}, Kathleen L Gabrielson^{5

6

7}, Robert Ivkov^#^{3

7

8

9}, Arturo Casadevall¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
³ Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁴ Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁷ Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Cryptococcosis is a devastating fungal disease associated with high morbidity and mortality even when treated with antifungal drugs. Bionized nanoferrite (BNF) nanoparticles are powerful immunomodulators, but their efficacy for infectious diseases has not been investigated. Administration of BNF nanoparticles to mice with experimental cryptococcal pneumonia altered the outcome of infection in a dose response manner as measured by CFU and survival. The protective effects were higher at lower doses, with reductions in IL-2, IL-4, and TNF-α, consistent with immune modulation whereby reductions in inflammation translate into reduced host damage, clearance of infection, and longer survival.

Keywords: cryptococcal pneumonia; immune system; iron oxide nanoparticles.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Cryptococcosis* / drug therapy
Cryptococcosis* / microbiology
Cryptococcus neoformans*
Inflammation
Mice
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Substances

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding