Department of Microbiology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2020 Sep 29;36(11):163. doi: 10.1007/s11274-020-02940-0.
Candida spp. are opportunistic fungi that can cause severe infections especially in immunocompromised patients. Candidiasis is currently the most frequent fungal disease affecting humans globally. This rise is attributed to the vast increase in resistance to antifungal agents. In recent years, the epidemiological and clinical relevance of fungal infections caused by Candida species have attracted a lot of interest with increasing reports of intrinsic and acquired resistance among Candida species. Thus, the formulation of novel, and efficient therapy for Candida infection persists as a critical challenge in modern medicine. The use of nanoparticle as a potential biomaterial to achieve this feat has gained global attention. Nanoparticles have shown promising antifungal activity, and thus, could be seen as the next generation antifungal agents. This review concisely discussed Candida infection with emphasis on anti-candida resistance mechanisms and the use of nanoparticles as potential therapeutic agents against Candida species. Moreover, the mechanisms of activity of nanoparticles against Candida species, recent findings on the anti-candida potentials of nanoparticles and future perspectives are also presented.
念珠菌属是一种机会性真菌，可导致严重感染，尤其是在免疫功能低下的患者中。念珠菌病是目前全球最常见的真菌感染疾病。这种上升归因于抗真菌药物耐药性的大幅增加。近年来，念珠菌属引起的真菌感染的流行病学和临床相关性引起了极大的关注，念珠菌属的固有和获得性耐药性的报道越来越多。因此，制定新型、有效的念珠菌感染治疗方法仍然是现代医学的一个关键挑战。将纳米颗粒作为一种潜在的生物材料来实现这一目标已经引起了全球的关注。纳米颗粒已显示出有希望的抗真菌活性，因此，可被视为下一代抗真菌药物。本文简要讨论了念珠菌感染，重点介绍了抗念珠菌耐药机制和纳米颗粒作为潜在的抗念珠菌治疗药物的应用。此外，还介绍了纳米颗粒对念珠菌的作用机制、纳米颗粒抗念珠菌潜力的最新发现以及未来的展望。
