Striking back against fungal infections: The utilization of nanosystems for antifungal strategies

Abstract

Fungal infections have become a major health concern, given that invasive infections by Candida, Cryptococcus, and Aspergillus species have led to millions of mortalities. Conventional an-tifungal drugs including polyenes, echinocandins, azoles, allylamins, and antimetabolites have been used for decades, but their limitations include off-target toxicity, drug-resistance, poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and weak tissue penetration, which cannot be ignored. These drawbacks have led to the emergence of novel antifungal therapies. In this review, we discuss the nanosystems that are currently utilized for drug delivery and the application of antifungal thera-pies.