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Aim: A sodium alginate-based biohydrogel was prepared integrating choline oleate deep euthetic solvent as facilitator of transdermal delivery and a cocktail of lytic bacteriophages for Acinetobacter baumannii, aiming at treating soft-tissue infections by the aforementioned pathogen. Materials & methods: Two bacteriophages were isolated from a hospital sewage and a wastewater treatment plant sewage in Sorocaba (Brazil), and characterized via SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, transmission electron microscope and evaluation of lytic spectra of the bacteriophage cocktail. The biohydrogel was prepared and characterized by DSC, FTIR, XRD, DESEM, XRT and transdermal permeation of the bacteriophage cocktail. Results & conclusion: The physico-chemical characterization of the biohydrogel produce indicated adequate structural characteristics and ability to promote/facilitate transdermal delivery of bacteriophage particles, thus showing potential for biopharmaceutical applications.

During the last decennium, it has become widely accepted that ubiquitous bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, exert enormous influences on our planet’s biosphere, killing between 4–50% of the daily produced bacteria and constituting the largest genetic diversity pool on our planet. Currently, bacterial infections linked to healthcare services are widespread, which, when associated with the increasing surge of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, play a major role in patient morbidity and mortality. In this scenario, Pseudomonas aeruginosa alone is responsible for ca. 13–15% of all hospital-acquired infections. The pathogen P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic one, being endowed with metabolic versatility and high (both intrinsic and acquired) resistance to antibiotics. Bacteriophages (or phages) have been recognized as a tool with high potential for the detection of bacterial infections since these metabolically inert entities specifically attach to, and lyse, bacterial host cells, thus, allowing confirmation of the presence of viable cells. In the research effort described herein, three different phages with broad lytic spectrum capable of infecting P. aeruginosa were isolated from environmental sources. The isolated phages were elected on the basis of their ability to form clear and distinctive plaques, which is a hallmark characteristic of virulent phages. Next, their structural and functional stabilization was achieved via entrapment within the matrix of porous alginate, biopolymeric, and bio-reactive, chromogenic hydrogels aiming at their use as sensitive matrices producing both color changes and/or light emissions evolving from a reaction with (released) cytoplasmic moieties, as a bio-detection kit for P. aeruginosa cells. Full physicochemical and biological characterization of the isolated bacteriophages was the subject of a previous research paper.

In the present research work, we propose a new antimicrobial treatment for pyoderma via cutaneous permeation of bacteriophage particles conveyed in a hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) gel integrating ionic liquid as a permeation enhancer. Ionic liquids are highly viscous fluids constituted exclusively by ions, that are usually hydrolytically stable and promote solubilization of amphipathic molecules such as proteins, hence serving as green solvents and promoting the transdermal permeation of biomolecules. In the research effort entertained herein, the synthesis and use of choline geranate for integrating a HEC gel aiming at the structural and functional stabilization of a cocktail of isolated lytic bacteriophage particles was sought, aiming at transdermal permeation in the antimicrobial treatment of animal pyoderma. The results obtained showed a high ability of the ionic liquid in enhancing transdermal permeation of the bacteriophage particles, with concomitant high potential of the HEC gel formulation in the antimicrobial treatment of animal skin infections.