Poly-lactide/Poly-lactide-co-glycolide-Based Delivery System for Bioactive Compounds Against Microbes

Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms are one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. For many of these diseases, prophylactic and therapeutic treatments are available in the form of vaccines and drugs. Novel discoveries in the pathophysiology and immunology of these diseases have led to the identification of contributing factors to the progress of these diseases. Our immune system puts forth a strong defense against these infections, but the microbes develop strategies to evade the immune system and survive inside the host. There is an ongoing hunt to look for potent therapeutic agents against these harmful bugs. These therapeutic drugs also need to be delivered effectively for long-lasting protection. This has led to the enhanced emphasis on the type of a suitable delivery system that can carry these agents inside the human body in its bioactive form. Hence, to achieve newer ways to deal with infection, we need better delivery systems as powerful tools for infection control and treatment. Biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric particles such as poly(lactic acid) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) have emerged as one of the efficient delivery systems for many life-saving drugs. These polymers offer several advantages such as targeted delivery, sustained release, and maintenance of bioactivity; it also leads to dose sparing by reducing the exposure of bioactive molecules in the circulation. The polymeric particles are being extensively studied in several applications as delivery systems due to their ability to exhibit a broad range of desirable properties. The present review focuses on the polymer-based particulate delivery system as a plausible solution to circumvent the shortcomings of conventional therapeutic and prophylactic systems, and it discusses some of the methods for their preparation as well as mechanisms of action against infection. Here we also review the cellular interaction of nanoparticles because this interaction influences the effectiveness of the particles. The present review aims at different preparation methods of poly-lactide/poly-lactide-co-glycolide-based particles, their properties as carriers of bioactive molecules, and applications of polymeric particle-based bioactive delivery systems against microbes with an emphasis on recent findings. This review sheds light on the latest applications of particle-based delivery systems attempting to provide an updated study about the field.