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.

Keywords: biological synthesis; drug delivery systems; fungi; marine; myconanotechnology; nanoparticles.

Figure 1

The new drug delivery systems based on nanotechnology that are currently being employed in order to enhance drug delivery, promote a better targeting, and reduce the toxicity of conventional antifungal drugs. It is also important to point out the importance of the production of nanoparticles by fungi (biological synthesis) and the undeniable potential of the sea as a source of new molecules with antifungal activity.

Figure 2

Bidirectional relationship of Nanoparticles and Mycology: nanotechnology has proven to be useful in improving antifungals pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and many fungi have been used to biologically synthetize nanoparticles.

Figure 3

Schematic representation of the formation of a polymersome and its versatile properties. Polymersomes are generally self-assembled from block copolymers, presenting a unique structure that is able to encapsulate different biological molecules.