Time to conquer fungal infectious diseases: employing nanoparticles as powerful and versatile antifungal nanosystems against a wide variety of fungal species

Abstract

The development of novel antifungal agents and, in particular, the widespread use of these medications over the course of the past two decades, has had a significant impact on the treatment of fungal infectious diseases. This has resulted in a complete transformation of the treatment of fungal infectious diseases. However, the widespread development of antibiotic resistance has masked the significance of such breakthroughs. Antifungal infection treatment with nanoparticles has been shown to be effective. As a result of their unique characteristics, these substances, in contrast to antibiotics in their purest form, are able to exhibit an increased anti-proliferative capacity while requiring a lower concentration than traditional drugs do in order to achieve the same effect. Decreased drug effectiveness, minimal tissue penetration throughout tissue, restricted tissue penetration, decreased bioavailability, poor drug pharmacokinetics, and low water solubility are some of the major factors contributing to the employment of antifungal medicines in delivery systems. Because of this, one of the primary goals of incorporating antifungal medications into varying sorts of nanoparticles is to reduce the negative effects of the drugs’ inherent qualities. This article provides an overview of the many types of nanoparticles, such as metal, metal oxide, and non-metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanofibers, antifungal peptides, composites, and ZnO quantum dots, that can be used as antifungal drug delivery systems, as well as the benefits that these nanomaterials have over purified medications.