Quantificação de Paracoccidioides brasiliensis em granulomas pulmonares de camundongos experimentalmente infectados e tratados com nanopartículas de itraconazol por via inalatória

Abstract

Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis caused by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis. It has a predilection for environments with climate variations between tropical and subtropical, making Brazil extremely pleasant for the agent, which also concentrates the largest number of registered cases among the countries of South America, with an average of 171 deaths annually. It affects several organs, especially the lung, where it is responsible for the formation of granulomas, which can lead to the death of the patient. The usual drug to treatment is oral itraconazole, which has some drawbacks such as the need for a treatment that can take years, drug pharmacokinetics, besides the adverse effects observed, suggesting the need for therapeutic innovations. Our research group has been working on the use and administration of inhaled itraconazole nanoparticles as an alternative treatment that is directed to the target organ (lung), with increased side effects. Thus, mice were infected with P. brasiliensis and treated with itraconazole nanoparticles via inhalation, treated with itraconazole nanoparticles, was significantly lower when compared to the groups via oral (P < 0.05), negative control (P < 0.05) and positive control (P < 0.001), demonstrating decreased number of granulomas macro and microscopically in the lungs compared to the other groups (treated with itraconazole via oral or untreated).