Leader: Rodolphe Carpentier
Chronic inflammation is the major feature of IBD. Today’s treatments target the local immune response (with immunomodulators) or local inflammation (with anti-inflammatory drugs). However, these treatments are not fully satisfactory, and do not show sufficient efficacy – thus requiring the development of new therapeutics. For this purpose, nanoparticles are used to improve the targeted delivery and the efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as like curcumin, mesalamine and any suitable new drugs synthesized by our group. Nanocarriers can also include immunomodulators (such as interleukin(IL)-10 family members) to locally reprogram the immune system towards an anti-inflammatory state. IL-4 also appear to be good candidates, as demonstrated during schistosomiasis. These nanocarriers will be administered orally, and so will have to cross the mucosal barrier. The drug delivery mechanisms and the nanoformulation’s efficacy is expected to be examined in vitro and in vivo in the healthy and inflamed gut epithelium.