Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India
  • 2 Department of Life Sciences, School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia
Dermatol Ther, 2020 11;33(6):e13905.
PMID: 32588940 DOI: 10.1111/dth.13905

Abstract

The incidences of fungal infections have greatly increased over the past few years, particularly in humid and industrialized areas. The severity of such infections ranges from being asymptomatic-mild to potentially life-threatening systemic infections. There are limited classes of drugs that are approved for the treatment of such infections like polyenes, azoles, and echinocandins. Some fungi have developed resistance to these drugs. Therefore, to counter drug resistance, intensive large scale studies on novel targeting strategies and formulations are being conducted, which have gained impetus lately. Conventional formulations have limitations such as higher doses, frequent dosing, and several side effects. Such limiting factors have paved the path for the emergence of nanotechnology and its applications. This further gave formulation scientists the possibility of encapsulating the existing potential drug moieties into nanocarriers, which when loaded into gels or creams provided prolonged release and improved permeation, thus giving on-target effect. This review thus discusses the newer targeting strategies and the role of nanocarriers that could be administered topically for the treatment of various fungal infections. Furthermore, this approach opens newer avenues for continued and sustained research in pharmaceuticals with much more effective outcomes.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.