Advances and Prospects of Polymeric Particles for the Treatment of Bacterial Biofilms

Bacterial biofilms have been attracting much more attention than before in the treatment of bacterial infections. Despite the development of antimicrobial agents including antibiotics, the treatment of bacterial biofilms remains a serious challenge since bacterial biofilms can prevent the diffusion and accumulation of antimicrobial agents. Polymeric nanoparticles can enter into the bacterial biofilms and change the chemical properties in the microenvironment of the biofilms due to its specific size and structure and realize interactions with bacteria or release preloaded drugs. The development of antibiofilm polymeric nanoparticles provides hopeful perspectives on the design of antibiofilm therapeutics. This Review aims to summarize the preparation, mechanism, and advances of polymeric nanoparticles to treat bacterial biofilms. First, we discuss the physiological factors of bacterial biofilms. Here, pH, enzyme, reactive oxygen species, hypoxia, and other physiological factors in the biofilms are listed. Then, different kinds of polymeric nanoparticles including polymer micelles, polymersomes, dendrimers, nanogels, nanocapsules, and other polymeric particles as antibiofilm therapeutics are described in detail. The cytotoxicity of the polymeric nanoparticles is also discussed. Last, the challenges of current antibiofilm treatments based on polymeric nanoparticles and their future prospects are also discussed.