Polyol-chitosan dendrimers for leishmaniosis treatment

Abstract

Macromolecular dendrimers have gained an attention in the molecular biology due to their endoreceptor and exoreceptor properties. In this sense, biologically active dendrimers have been successfully used for the development of drug and gene delivery systems, vaccines, anti-cancer, antiviral agents as well as protein mimetics. In this work, we report on the preliminary in vivo evaluation of the borated polyol-chitosan dendrimers (PG-Ch/B) with high potential for the treatment of the visceral and cutaneous leishmaniosis by the boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The PG-Ch/B complexes exhibited high swelling degree without dissolution relatively to the chitosan films or their physical mixtures with boric acid and glycerin. The phagocytosis of the PG-Ch/B by homogeneous mouse peritoneal macrophages was evaluated by the phase-contrast microscopy. The results indicated that the interfacial free energy may be important one for the attachment of the dendrimer to the phagocytic cell and that the optimal hydrophobicity of the polyol surface may be responsible for the susceptibility to phagocytosis.