Enrofloxacin‑silver composite nano-emulsion as a scalable synergetic antibacterial platform for accelerating infected wound healing

The colonization of bacterial pathogens is a major concern in wound infection and becoming a notable medical issue. Enrofloxacin (ENR) can be applied to treat skin infections, while poor water solubility and bioavailability limit its clinical application. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) enhance the solubility and bioavailability of drugs by encapsulating them, making them effective for the topical treatment of skin wound infections. Additionally, to enhance treatment efficacy and further improve wound healing, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were attached to the aforementioned matrix, which also improved its colloidal stability and reduced toxicity. Herein, a scalable poly (vinyl alcohol) modified NLCs-based antibacterial platform was fabricated by high-pressure homogenization method, to co-load ENR and AgNPs for treating the bacterial-infected wounds. The growth of common wound bacterial pathogens (<i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>) was synergistically inhibited by released ENR and Ag⁺ from the poly (vinyl alcohol) modified enrofloxacin‑silver composite nano-emulsion (ENR@PVA-NLCs/AgNPs). In the <i>in vivo</i> wound model, the <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>-infected wound in rat almost completely disappeared after treatment with ENR@PVA-NLCs/AgNPs, and no suppuration symptom was observed. Importantly, this nanoplatform had negligible side effects <i>in vivo</i>. Taken together, the above results strongly demonstrate the promising potential of ENR@PVA-NLCs/AgNPs as a synergistic therapeutic agent for clinical wound infections.