Current Insights on Antifungal Therapy: Novel Nanotechnology Approaches for Drug Delivery Systems and New Drugs from Natural Sources

Abstract

The high incidence of fungal infections has become a worrisome public health issue, having been aggravated by an increase in host predisposition factors. Despite all the drugs available on the market to treat these diseases, their efficiency is questionable, and their side effects cannot be neglected. Bearing that in mind, it is of upmost importance to synthetize new and innovative carriers for these medicines not only to fight emerging fungal infections but also to avert the increase in drug-resistant strains. Although it has revealed to be a difficult job, new nano-based drug delivery systems and even new cellular targets and compounds with antifungal potential are now being investigated. This article will provide a summary of the state-of-the-art strategies that have been studied in order to improve antifungal therapy and reduce adverse effects of conventional drugs. The bidirectional relationship between Mycology and Nanotechnology will be also explained. Furthermore, the article will focus on new compounds from the marine environment which have a proven antifungal potential and may act as platforms to discover drug-like characteristics, highlighting the challenges of the translation of these natural compounds into the clinical pipeline.

In Silico Predicted Antifungal Peptides: In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-Candida Activity

“…Recently, a new open-access database (DRAMP) containing over twenty thousand peptides, of which more than three thousand are characterized by antifungal activity, was developed [26]. To overcome the drawbacks of AMPs in relation to their efficacy, in vivo stability, toxicity, and expensive large-scale production, new strategies have been focusing on designing synthetic mimics and developing new delivery systems [15,[27][28][29][30]. Moreover, new strategies have been developed for molecular modifications and many peptides have been studied intensively, such as histatin-5 [29], lactoferricins [31], and anoplin [32].…”

Impact of the Peptide WMR-K on Dual-Species Biofilm Candida albicans/Klebsiella pneumoniae and on the Untargeted Metabolomic Profile

“…The increasing awareness of the importance to find novel antibiofilm and anti-virulence drugs to suppress dual biofilm formation and virulence has stimulated a huge research activity. Nowadays, it has become necessary also to look for alternative strategies that target only to microbial ability to form biofilms and to the production of virulence factors, without affecting planktonic cells growth [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Synergistic antifungal evaluation of over-the-counter antifungal creams with turmeric essential oil or Aloe vera gel against pathogenic fungi

“…The continuous therapeutic failure as a result of multi-drug resistance by pathogenic fungi is urgently demanding for innovative complementary approach towards production of novel, alternative and effective antimicrobial drugs. Invention of antifungal drugs with different drug delivery systems like liposomes, niosomes, ethosomes, microemulsions, microsponge, nanoparticles are now embraced as treatment option for fungal infection in order to achieve clinical efficacy [ 6 , 7 ]. The increasing therapeutic potentials of drug combination has been found more efficacious than single antifungal agent aimed at a single target [ 8 ].…”