Effective infectious keratitis treatment must eliminate the pathogen, reduce the inflammatory response, and prevent persistent damage to the cornea. Infectious keratitis is generally treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics; however, they have the risk of causing corneal epithelial cell damage and drug resistance. In this study, we prepared a nanocomposite (Arg-CQDs/pCur) from arginine (Arg)-derived carbon quantum dots (Arg-CQDs) and polymeric curcumin (pCur). Partial carbonization of arginine hydrochloride in the solid state by mild pyrolysis resulted in the formation of CQDs, which exhibited enhanced antibacterial activity. pCur was formed by the polymerization of curcumin, and further crosslinking reduced its cytotoxicity and improved antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and pro-proliferative activities. The pCur in situ conjugated with Arg-CQDs to form the Arg-CQDs/pCur nanocomposite, which showed a minimum inhibitory concentration of ca. 10 μg mL^–1, which was >100-fold and >15-fold lower than that of the precursor arginine and curcumin, respectively, against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The Arg-CQDs/pCur nanocomposite with combined antibacterial, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, pro-proliferative properties, and long-term retention on cornea enabled synergistic treatment of bacterial keratitis. In a rat model, it can effectively treat P. aeruginosa-induced bacterial keratitis at a concentration 4000-fold lower than the commercially used drug, Sulmezole eye drops. Arg-CQDs/pCur nanocomposites have great potential for application in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory nanoformulations for clinical use to treat infectious diseases.

中文翻译：

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聚合姜黄素与精氨酸衍生碳量子点原位杂交协同治疗细菌感染

有效的感染性角膜炎治疗必须消除病原体，减少炎症反应，防止角膜持续受损。感染性角膜炎一般用广谱抗生素治疗；然而，它们有引起角膜上皮细胞损伤和耐药性的风险。在这项研究中，我们从精氨酸 (Arg) 衍生的碳量子点 (Arg-CQDs) 和聚合姜黄素 (pCur) 制备了纳米复合材料 (Arg-CQDs/pCur)。通过温和热解，固态精氨酸盐酸盐的部分碳化导致 CQD 的形成，其表现出增强的抗菌活性。pCur 由姜黄素聚合形成，进一步交联降低了其细胞毒性并提高了抗氧化、抗炎和促增殖活性。pCur 与 Arg-CQDs 原位结合形成 Arg-CQDs/pCur 纳米复合材料，其显示出 ca 的最小抑制浓度。10微克·毫升^–1，分别比前体精氨酸和姜黄素低 >100 倍和 >15 倍，对抗金黄色葡萄球菌、大肠杆菌和铜绿假单胞菌。Arg-CQDs/pCur 纳米复合材料具有抗菌、抗氧化、抗炎、促增殖特性和在角膜上的长期滞留性，可协同治疗细菌性角膜炎。在大鼠模型中，它可以有效治疗铜绿假单胞菌-诱发细菌性角膜炎的浓度比市售药物舒美唑滴眼液低 4000 倍。Arg-CQDs/pCur 纳米复合材料在临床用于治疗传染病的抗菌和抗炎纳米制剂中具有巨大的应用潜力。