Toward Repositioning Niclosamide for Antivirulence Therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infections: Development of Inhalable Formulations through Nanosuspension Technology

Inhaled antivirulence drugs are currently considered a promising therapeutic option to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF). We have recently shown that the anthelmintic drug niclosamide (NCL) has strong quorum sensing (QS) inhibiting activity against P. aeruginosa and could be repurposed as an antivirulence drug. In this work, we developed dry powders containing NCL nanoparticles that can be reconstituted in saline solution to produce inhalable nanosuspensions. NCL nanoparticles were produced by high-pressure homogenization (HPH) using polysorbate 20 or polysorbate 80 as stabilizers. After 20 cycles of HPH, all formulations showed similar properties in the form of needle-shape nanocrystals with a hydrodynamic diameter of approximately 450 nm and a zeta potential of -20 mV. Nanosuspensions stabilized with polysorbate 80 at 10% w/w to NCL (T80_10) showed an optimal solubility profile in simulated interstitial lung fluid. T80_10 was successfully dried into mannitol-based dry powder by spray drying. Dry powder (T80_10 DP) was reconstituted in saline solution and showed optimal in vitro aerosol performance. Both T80_10 and T80_10 DP were able to inhibit P. aeruginosa QS at NCL concentrations of 2.5-10 μM. NCL, and these formulations did not significantly affect the viability of CF bronchial epithelial cells in vitro at microbiologically active concentrations (i.e., ≤10 μM). In vivo acute toxicity studies in rats confirmed no observable toxicity of the NCL T80_10 DP formulation upon intratracheal administration at a concentration 100-fold higher than the anti-QS activity concentration. These preliminary results suggest that NCL repurposed in the form of inhalable nanosuspensions has great potential for the local treatment of P. aeruginosa lung infections as in the case of CF patients.