Osteomyelitis is a debilitating
infection of bone that results in substantial morbidity. Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly isolated pathogen causing bone
infections and features an arsenal of
virulence factors that contribute to bone destruction and counteract immune responses. We previously demonstrated that
diflunisal, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory
drug, decreases S. aureus-induced bone destruction during
osteomyelitis when delivered locally from a resorbable
drug delivery depot. However, local
diflunisal therapy was complicated by bacterial colonization of the depot's surface, highlighting a common pitfall of devices for local
drug delivery to infected tissue. It is, therefore, critical to develop an alternative
drug delivery method for
diflunisal to successfully repurpose this
drug as an antivirulence
therapy for
osteomyelitis. We hypothesized that a nanoparticle-based parenteral delivery strategy would provide a method for delivering
diflunisal to infected tissue while circumventing the complications associated with local delivery. In this study, we demonstrate that
poly(propylene sulfide) (PPS) nanoparticles accumulate at the infectious focus in a murine model of staphylococcal
osteomyelitis and are capable of efficaciously delivering
diflunisal to infected bone. Moreover,
diflunisal-loaded PPS nanoparticles effectively decrease S. aureus-mediated bone destruction, establishing the feasibility of systemic delivery of an antivirulence compound to mitigate bone pathology during
osteomyelitis.