Exploring the potential of chitosan-based particles as delivery-carriers for promising antimicrobial glycolipid biosurfactants

Driven by the need to find alternatives to control Staphylococcus aureus infections, this work describes the development of chitosan-based particulate systems as carriers for antimicrobial glycolipids. By using a simple ionic gelation method stable nanoparticles were obtained showing an encapsulation efficiency of 41.1 +/- 8.8 % and 74.2 +/- 1.3 % and an average size of 210.0 +/- 15.7 nm and 329.6 +/- 8.0 nm for sophorolipids and rhamnolipids chitosan-nanoparticles, respectively. Glycolipids incorporation and particle size was correspondingly corroborated by FTIR-ATR and TEM analysis. Rhamnolipids chitosan nanoparticles (RLs-CSp) presented the highest antimicrobial effect towards S. aureus (ATCC 25923) exhibiting a minimal inhibitory concentration of 130 mu g/mL and a biofilm inhibition ability of 99 %. Additionally, RLs-CSp did not interfere with human dermal fibroblasts (AG22719) viability and proliferation under the tested conditions. The results revealed that the RLsCSp were able to inhibit bacterial growth showing adequate cytocompatibility and might become, after additional studies, a valuable approach to prevent S. aureus related infections.