Title:Nascent Nanoformulations as an Insight into the Limitations of the
Conventional Systemic Antifungal Therapies
Volume: 24
Issue: 2
Author(s): Manjot Kaur, Riya Shivgotra, Nitish Bhardwaj, Shagun Saini, Shubham Thakur and Subheet Kumar Jain*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India
- Centre for Basic and Translational Research in Health Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 143005, India
Keywords:
Systemic fungal, infections, immunocompromised, nanotechnology, carrier-based approaches, antifungal therapies.
Abstract: More than 150 million people have significant fungal diseases that greatly impact health
care and economic expenditures. The expansion of systemic fungal infections and invasive mycoses
is being driven by an increase in the number of immunocompromised patients and the recent
COVID-19 patients, especially severely ill. There have been numerous cases of fungal infections
linked to COVID-19, with pulmonary aspergillosis dominating at first but with the subsequent appearance
of mucormycosis, candidiasis, and endemic mycoses. Candida spp. is the most frequent
pathogen, with approximately 1 billion infections yearly, among other species causing the most
prevalent invasive fungal infections. The importance of recognizing the epidemiological shifts of
invasive fungal infections in patient care cannot be overstated. Despite the enormous antifungal
therapies available, these infections are difficult to diagnose and cause high morbidity and mortality
rates. Treatment choices for systemic fungal infections are severely limited due to the limitations of
conventional therapy effectiveness and drug toxicities. So the researchers are still looking for novel
therapeutic options, such as carrier-based approaches that are convenient and cost-effective with
high and long-lasting fungal infection cure rates with reduced toxicities. The focus of this study is
on summarizing the nanotechnology, immunotherapy methods and the drugs under clinical trials
that have been employed in treatment as carrier-based antifungal formulations. Most of these have
been reported to be promising strategies with broad-spectrum antifungal action and the potential to
overcome antibiotic resistance mechanisms. We speculate that this review summarized the current
knowledge to its best that will help the future developments of new antifungal therapies.
