Effective Killing of Biofilm by Nanoemulsion Delivery of Plant Phytochemicals

Importance: is among the opportunistic bacterial pathogens that cause nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases. The infection caused by is difficult to treat because the bacterium is resistant to many of the currently available antibiotics, limiting chemotherapeutic strategies. Furthermore, it forms biofilms in clinically relevant settings, making the infection difficult to treat. Many phytochemicals have potent antimicrobial activities, but their hydrophobicity limits clinical applications. In this study, we tested a new drug delivery strategy where hydrophobic plant phytochemicals were emulsified with a biodegradable nanosponge. We show that the emulsification makes phytochemicals such as carvacrol and eugenol more effective against biofilms. We further demonstrate that nanoemulsified phytochemicals can kill hypoxia-induced dormant and effectively improve skin wound infection in mice. Our data pave the way to use phytochemical nanosponge as a platform to create synergy by combining other antimycobacterial drugs.