Nucleoside-lipid-based nanocarriers for methylene blue delivery: potential application as anti-malarial drug

Nucleolipid supramolecular assemblies are promising Drug Delivery Systems (DDS), particularly for nucleic acids. Studies based on negatively and positively charged nucleolipids (diC16dT and DOTAU, respectively) demonstrated appropriate stability, safety, and purity profile to be used as DDS. Methylene Blue (MB) remains a good antimalarial drug candidate, and could be considered for the treatment of uncomplicated or severe malaria. However, the development of MB as an antimalarial drug has been hampered by a high dose regimen required to obtain a proper effect, and a short plasmatic half life. We demonstrated that nanoparticles formed by nucleolipid encapsulation of MB using diC16dT and DOTAU (MB-NPs) is an interesting approach to improve drug stability and delivery. MB-NPs displayed sizes, PDI, zeta values, and colloidal stability allowing a possible use in intravenous formulations. Nanoparticles partially protected MB from oxido-reduction reactions, thus preventing early degradation during storage, and allowing prolongated pharmacokinetic in plasma. MB-NPs' efficacy, tested in vitro on sensitive or multidrug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, was statistically similar to MB alone, with a slightly lower IC₅₀. This nucleolipid-based approach to protect drugs against degradation represents a new alternative tool to be considered for malaria treatment.