Striking Back against Fungal Infections: The Utilization of Nanosystems for Antifungal Strategies

Abstract

Fungal infections have become a major health concern, given that invasive infections by Candida, Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus species have led to millions of mortalities. Conventional antifungal drugs including polyenes, echinocandins, azoles, allylamins, and antimetabolites have been used for decades, but their limitations include off-target toxicity, drug-resistance, poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and weak tissue penetration, which cannot be ignored. These drawbacks have led to the emergence of novel antifungal therapies. In this review, we discuss the nanosystems that are currently utilized for drug delivery and the application of antifungal therapies.

A novel approach to control Botrytis cinerea fungal infections: uptake and biological activity of antifungals encapsulated in nanoparticle based vectors

“…The generation of drug delivery systems based on nanomaterials represents a potential alternative to developing newer formulations to successfully control fungal infections and overcome the fungal multi-resistance to existent drugs. In fact, the encapsulation protects the antifungal compound from damage such as photolysis or degradation, allowing the drug to reach the target site more efficiently with a consequent reduction in the number of applications 38 , 39 . In this context, the delivery of antifungal compounds encapsulated in PLGA NPs could be considered an excellent strategy to safeguard crops against B. cinerea.…”

Progress of polymer-based strategies in fungal disease management: Designed for different roles

“…Although pathogenic fungi can be classified into numerous genera with various morphologies, they share similar cell wall and membrane components that distinguish them from mammalian cells. Researchers have exploited these as therapeutic targets, although fungi’s susceptibility to these targets varies between strains ( Du et al., 2021 ). At present, four main classes of antifungal agents namely polyenes, azoles, echinocandins, and pyrimidine analogs, are applied for treatment of systemic mycoses.…”

“…So far, this field has been reviewed with emphasis on nano-scaled composites primarily used as drug delivery systems and synthetic materials with antifungal activity ( Du et al., 2021 ; Nagaraj et al., 2021 ; Ntow-Boahene et al., 2021 ). In this review, we describe polymer-based strategies for management of fungal disease, including treatment, diagnosis as well as monitoring and prevention ( Scheme 1 ).…”

Antifungal Properties of Biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles Functionalized with Nystatin for the Inhibition of Candida albicans Biofilm Formation

“…The combination of nystatin with nanoparticles (NPs) will likely increase the bioavailability and efficacy of nystatin and also a reduction in its toxicity [ 13 , 14 ]. The NPs have a high surface area, facilitating enhanced drug loading, more efficient drug delivery, and reduced toxicity and dosage for anti- Candida activity [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. The NPs can be used as smart drug delivery systems by encapsulating or attaching the antifungal agents with biocompatible NPs.…”