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Meta-Analysis of Drug Delivery Approaches for Treating Intracellular Infections

Sooyoung Shin1,2, Soonbum Kwon3, Yoon Yeo4,5

  • 1College of Pharmacy, Ajou University, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16499, Republic of Korea. syshin@ajou.ac.kr.

Pharmaceutical Research
|February 11, 2022
PubMed

Insights

This meta-analysis reviewed studies on intracellular delivery of antimicrobial agents. Many studies lacked rigorous methods and complete data, hindering clinical translation of these promising drug delivery platforms.

Area of Science:

  • Pharmacology
  • Microbiology
  • Drug Delivery Systems

Background:

  • Intracellular pathogens pose significant treatment challenges.
  • Carrier-mediated delivery systems offer a promising strategy to enhance antimicrobial efficacy against intracellular infections.
  • Evaluating the quality of existing research is crucial for advancing this field.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the trends in research on intracellular delivery of antimicrobial agents.
  • To evaluate the methodological quality and completeness of studies in this area.
  • To identify gaps and limitations hindering clinical translation.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic meta-analysis was conducted.
  • Searches were performed in PubMed, Embase, and reference lists of reviews.
  • Included studies focused on carrier-mediated intracellular delivery and pharmacodynamics (PD) of antimicrobials against intracellular pathogens.

Main Results:

  • 99 studies were analyzed, with bacteria being the most targeted pathogen (62.6%).
  • Significant methodological gaps were identified: 21.2% lacked cell verification, and only 31.3% provided comparative drug data.
  • Many studies (approx. 8%) lacked essential experimental evidence for claimed intracellular delivery.

Conclusions:

  • Current research on intracellular antimicrobial delivery often suffers from poor methodological quality and incomplete data.
  • Improvements in study design, verification methods, and data reporting are essential.
  • Enhancing research rigor will facilitate the clinical translation of novel intracellular delivery platforms for antimicrobial therapeutics.
Keywords:
AntimicrobialsDrug carriersIntracellular drug deliveryIntracellular pathogens

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