Drug-encapsulated carbon (DECON): A novel platform for enhanced drug delivery

Tejabhiram Yadavalli, Joshua Ames, Alex Agelidis, Rahul Suryawanshi, Dinesh Jaishankar, James Hopkins, Neel Thakkar, Lulia Koujah, Deepak Shukla*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Current drug-delivery systems are designed primarily for parenteral applications and are either lipid or polymer drug conjugates. In our quest to inhibit herpes simplex virus infection via the compounds found in commonly used cosmetic products, we found that activated carbon particles inhibit infection and, in addition, substantially improve topical delivery and, hence, the efficacy of a common antiviral drug, acyclovir (ACV). Our in vitro studies demonstrate that highly porous carbon structures trapped virions, blocked infection and substantially improved efficacy when ACV was loaded onto them. Also, using murine models of corneal and genital herpes infections, we show that the topical use of drug-encapsulated carbon (DECON) reduced dosing frequency, shortened treatment duration, and exhibited higher therapeutic efficacy than currently approved topical or systemic antivirals alone. DECON is a nontoxic, cost-effective and nonimmunogenic alternative to current topical drug-delivery systems that is uniquely triggered for drug release by virus trapping.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbereaax0780
JournalScience Advances
Volume5
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 14 2019

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the NIH (R01 EY024710, RO1 AI139768, and RO1 EY029426) to D.S. A.A. was supported by an F30EY025981 grant from the National Eye Institute, NIH.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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