Development of mannose-anchored thiolated amphotericin B nanocarriers for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis

AIM: Our goal was to improve treatment outcomes for visceral leishmaniasis by designing nanocarriers that improve drug biodistribution and half-life. Thus, long-acting mannose-anchored thiolated chitosan amphotericin B nanocarrier complexes (MTC AmB) were developed and characterized. MATERIALS & METHODS: A mannose-anchored thiolated chitosan nanocarrier was manufactured and characterized. MTC AmB was examined for cytotoxicity, biocompatibility, uptake and antimicrobial activities. RESULTS: MTC AmB was rod shaped with a size of 362 nm. MTC AmB elicited 90% macrophage viability and 71-fold enhancement in drug uptake compared with native drug. The antileishmanial IC(50) for MTC AmB was 0.02 μg/ml compared with 0.26 μg/ml for native drug. CONCLUSION: These studies show that MTC can serve as a platform for clearance of Leishmania in macrophages.