<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the central nervous system that affects people all over the world. <italic>Streptococcus pneumoniae</italic> and <italic>Neisseria meningitidis</italic> are the most common pathogens causing meningeal inflammation in Europe. Treatment with standard antibiotics is becoming ineffective, not only due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, but also due to rising antibiotic resistance. As a result, novel therapeutics to combat the infection are required. A promising solution could be therapeutic nanomolecules, such as dendrimers, some of which have antimicrobial properties due to their chemical structure. Additionally, they may be decorated with a suitable therapeutic and central nervous system homing peptides to construct nano-drug delivery systems, which can effectively cross the blood-brain barrier. To synthesize safe dendrimeric nano-drug delivery system it is necessary to select the best dendrimer candidates with antimicrobial activity and to understand pharmacosafety, pharmacokinetics and dynamics. This review provides a brief overview of dendrimers and their antimicrobial properties as they have been studied in relation to the blood-brain barrier and existing antibiotics.</p>
</abstract>

Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the central nervous system that affects people all over the world. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis are the most common pathogens causing meningeal inflammation in Europe. Treatment with standard antibiotics is becoming ineffective, not only due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, but also due to rising antibiotic resistance. As a result, novel therapeutics to combat the infection are required. A promising solution could be therapeutic nanomolecules, such as dendrimers, some of which have antimicrobial properties due to their chemical structure. Additionally, they may be decorated with a suitable therapeutic and central nervous system homing peptides to construct nano-drug delivery systems, which can effectively cross the blood-brain barrier. To synthesize safe dendrimeric nano-drug delivery system it is necessary to select the best dendrimer candidates with antimicrobial activity and to understand pharmacosafety, pharmacokinetics and dynamics. This review provides a brief overview of dendrimers and their antimicrobial properties as they have been studied in relation to the blood-brain barrier and existing antibiotics.

Dendrimers as Antimicrobial Agents in the Central Nervous System Infections. A Review

Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology

University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice

Folia Veterinaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the central nervous system that affects people all over the world. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria...

Dendrimers as Antimicrobial Agents in the Central Nervous System Infections. A Review

Published Online: Jun 19, 2023

Page range: 24 - 32

Received: Feb 27, 2023

Accepted: Mar 30, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2023-0014

Keywords
bacterial meningitis, blood-brain barrier, central nervous system, dendrimer, drug delivery

© 2023 Katarína Kucková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Dendrimers as Antimicrobial Agents in the Central Nervous System Infections. A Review

Published Online: Jun 19, 2023

Page range: 24 - 32

Received: Feb 27, 2023

Accepted: Mar 30, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2023-0014

Keywordsbacterial meningitis, blood-brain barrier, central nervous system, dendrimer, drug delivery

© 2023 Katarína Kucková et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
bacterial meningitis, blood-brain barrier, central nervous system, dendrimer, drug delivery