Progress in the application of nanoparticles for the treatment of fungal infections: A review

Abstract

The burden of fungal infections on human health is increasing worldwide. Aspergillus, Candida, and Cryptococcus are the top three human pathogenic fungi that are responsible for over 90% of infection-related deaths. Moreover, effective antifungal therapeutics are lacking, primarily due to host toxicity, pathogen resistance, and immunodeficiency. In recent years, nanomaterials have proved not only to be more efficient antifungal therapeutic agents but also to overcome resistance against fungal medication. This review will examine the limitations of standard antifungal therapy as well as focus on the development of nanomaterials.

Keywords: Fungal infection; antifungal; nanoparticle.

Figure 1.

Mannosylated nanotrinity synthesis and macrophage remodelling. Mannose was covalently conjugated with chitosan oligosaccharides and then the product was incubated with imatinib-laden nanoparticles obtaining the chitosan-coated nanoparticles. The mannosylated nanotrinity developed in this study could significantly induce macrophage remodelling in situ by the two-pronged process, “turning on” M1 phenotype polarisation meanwhile “shutting off” M2 phenotype polarisation, and thus allowed to eradicate C. albicans infection (Gao et al. 2020).

Figure 2.

The functional assessment of the econazole-triamcinolone loaded silica nanoparticles. Maheen et al. mixed MSNs with econazole nitrate (EN) and triamcinolone acetonide (TA) to accelerate healing. In the C. albicans-infected animal models, the EN-TA-loaded MSNs exhibited superiority in anti-fungal activity and wound healing, compared with EN/TA alone. (A) SEM analysis of EN-TA-MSNs. (B) Skin irritation studies and in vivo antifungal studies in control group (a), group treated with pure EN-TA suspension (b), and group treated with EN-TA loaded MSNs (c) (Maheen et al. 2022).