Overseas Travel Grant - Research visit to Louvain Drug Research Institute at the Universite catholique de Louvain

海外旅行补助金 - 参观天主教鲁汶大学鲁汶药物研究所

• 批准号: EP/V003127/1
• 负责人: Padrig Flynn
• 金额: $ 2.58万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FV003127%2F1
• 关键词: Overseas; Travel; Grant; Research; visit

Chronic wounds impose a significant and often underestimated burden to the individual, the healthcare system and society as a whole. It has been estimated that the NHS spends £5 billion on treating chronic wounds with approximately 2.2 million people living with chronic wounds in the UK. These chronic wounds are extremely susceptible to infection. With sufferers of non-healing wounds regularly receiving antibiotic treatment for recurring infected wounds. Bacteria responsible for these infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have the capacity to evade the immune system and antibiotic treatment by hiding within cells resulting in persistent and recurrent infections transforming these cells into reservoirs of infection. Bacteria that evade the immune system by persisting in the intracellular environment are difficult to treat with traditional antibiotic therapies due to the varied susceptibility to antibiotics within the intracellular environment as well as the challenge of achieving effective concentrations of antibiotics within the cellular environment. New treatment strategies are required to increase the effectiveness of antibiotics for intracellular infection treatments, that currently require lengthy and repeated antibiotic treatments. These repeated treatments contribute to antimicrobial resistance through ineffective clearance of the pathogen from the infected individual and modification of their microbiome increasing the population of resistant bacteria within their body. Cold plasma technology is an innovative and new approach for the disinfection of infected surfaces and chronic infected wounds. Cold plasma refers to a partially ionised gas generated from the input of electrical energy into a gas such as helium, creating a plasma suitable for treating heat sensitive surfaces like our skin. There is already a range of devices available for treatment of infected wounds. Currently the antibacterial activity of this technology is well characterised however there is no published data on its effects on intracellular infected cells alongside antibiotic treatments. The aim of this project is to investigate the efficacy of cold plasma treatment of infected cells with subsequent cold plasma deposition of a hydrogel dressing impregnated with antibiotic nanoparticles, to improve the potency and effectiveness of antibiotics for treatment of intracellular infections and chronic wounds. This will result in a reduction of the required antibiotic treatments for the effective clearance of persistent tissue infections as well as localised treatment of the infection. In order to achieve this aim a suitable intracellular infection model must be developed. At the Louvain Drug Research Institute, Universite' Catholique de Louvain, they have developed antibiotic pharmacodynamic models for intracellular infections. This proposed research visit to this Institution will result in an understanding and expertise in the use of this model in order to fulfill the aims of my research program as well as developing international collaboration with a world-leading Institution in antibiotics and their pharmacodynamics in infected cells.

慢性伤口对个人、医疗保健系统和整个社会造成了重大且往往被低估的负担。据估计，NHS花费50亿英镑用于治疗慢性伤口，英国约有220万人患有慢性伤口。这些慢性伤口非常容易感染。伤口不愈合的患者定期接受抗生素治疗复发感染的伤口。负责这些感染的细菌，如耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）和铜绿假单胞菌，具有通过隐藏在细胞内而逃避免疫系统和抗生素治疗的能力，从而导致持续和复发性感染，将这些细胞转化为感染的储库。通过持续存在于细胞内环境中而逃避免疫系统的细菌难以用传统抗生素疗法治疗，这是由于细胞内环境中对抗生素的不同易感性以及在细胞环境中实现抗生素的有效浓度的挑战。需要新的治疗策略来提高抗生素用于细胞内感染治疗的有效性，目前需要长期且重复的抗生素治疗。这些重复治疗通过从感染个体无效清除病原体和修改其微生物组增加其体内耐药细菌的数量而导致抗菌素耐药性。冷等离子体技术是一种用于感染表面和慢性感染伤口消毒的创新方法。冷等离子体是指将电能输入到氦气等气体中产生的部分电离气体，产生的等离子体适用于处理像我们的皮肤这样的热敏表面。已经有一系列设备可用于治疗感染的伤口。目前，该技术的抗菌活性得到了很好的表征，但是还没有关于其与抗生素治疗一起对细胞内感染细胞的影响的公开数据。该项目的目的是研究冷等离子体处理感染细胞的有效性，随后冷等离子体沉积浸渍抗生素纳米颗粒的水凝胶敷料，以提高抗生素治疗细胞内感染和慢性伤口的效力和有效性。这将减少有效清除持续性组织感染所需的抗生素治疗以及感染的局部治疗。为了实现这一目标，必须开发合适的细胞内感染模型。在鲁汶大学鲁汶药物研究所，他们开发了细胞内感染的抗生素药效学模型。这次对该机构的拟议研究访问将导致对该模型使用的理解和专业知识，以实现我的研究计划的目标，并与世界领先的抗生素及其在感染细胞中的药效学机构开展国际合作。