Title:Strategies of Drug Delivery for Deep Fungal Infection: A Review
VOLUME: 8 ISSUE: 5
Author(s):Zhongyi Ma, Xiaoyou Wang and Chong Li*
Affiliation:College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Research Institute, Southwest University, Chongqing
Keywords:Antifungal agents, conditionally pathogenic fungi, deep fungal infection, drug delivery strategies, fungal
infection microenvironment, targeted delivery systems.
Abstract:
The deep fungal infection poses serious threats to human health, mainly due to the
increase in the number of immunocompromised individuals. Current first-line antifungal agents
such as Amphotericin B, Fluconazole and Itraconazole, may decrease the severity of fungal infection
to some extent, but the poor drug bioavailability, drug toxicity and poor water solubility
seriously restrict their clinical utility. This review focuses on the study of drug delivery strategies
for the treatment of deep fungal infections. We summarize the drug delivery strategies recently
reported for the treatment of deep fungal infection, and explain each part with research
examples. We discuss the use of pharmaceutical approaches to improve the physicochemical
properties of the antifungal drugs to provide a basis for the clinical application of antifungal
drugs. We then highlight the strategies for targeting drug delivery to the infection sites of fungi
and fungal surface moieties, which have the potential to get developed as clinically relevant targeted
therapies against deep fungal infections. It is worth noting that the current research on
fungal infections still lags behind the research on other pathogens, and the drug delivery strategy
for the treatment of deep fungal infections is far from meeting the treatment needs. Therefore,
we envision the potential strategies inspired by the treatment of diseases with referential
pathology or pathophysiology, further enriching the delivery of antifungal agents, providing
references for basic research of fungal infections.
Lay Summary: The deep fungal infections pose serious threats to the health of immunodeficiency
patients. It is worth noting that the current research on fungi is still lagging behind that
on other pathogens. The drug delivery strategies for the treatment of deep fungal infections are
far from meeting the treatment needs. We summarize the recently reported drug delivery strategies
for treating deep fungal infection, and envision the potential strategies to further enrich the
delivery of antifungal agents.
