Department of Hand Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Mar 22;13:1142029. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1142029. eCollection 2023.
Fungal diseases have posed a great challenge to global health, but have fewer solutions compared to bacterial and viral infections. Development and application of new treatment modalities for fungi are limited by their inherent essential properties as eukaryotes. The microorganism identification and drug sensitivity analyze are limited by their proliferation rates. Moreover, there are currently no vaccines for prevention. Polymer science and related interdisciplinary technologies have revolutionized the field of fungal disease management. To date, numerous advanced polymer-based systems have been developed for management of fungal diseases, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. In this review, we provide an overview of current needs and advances in polymer-based strategies against fungal diseases. We high light various treatment modalities. Delivery systems of antifungal drugs, systems based on polymers' innate antifungal activities, and photodynamic therapies each follow their own mechanisms and unique design clues. We also discuss various prevention strategies including immunization and antifungal medical devices, and further describe point-of-care testing platforms as futuristic diagnostic and monitoring tools. The broad application of polymer-based strategies for both public and personal health management is prospected and integrated systems have become a promising direction. However, there is a gap between experimental studies and clinical translation. In future, well-designed trials should be conducted to reveal the underlying mechanisms and explore the efficacy as well as biosafety of polymer-based products.
真菌病对全球健康构成了巨大挑战，但与细菌和病毒感染相比，解决方案较少。由于真菌作为真核生物具有固有特性，因此开发和应用新的治疗方法受到限制。微生物鉴定和药敏分析受到其增殖率的限制。此外，目前尚无预防用疫苗。聚合物科学和相关的跨学科技术彻底改变了真菌病管理领域。迄今为止，已经开发出许多基于聚合物的先进系统来治疗真菌病，包括预防、诊断、治疗和监测。在这篇综述中，我们概述了针对真菌病的基于聚合物策略的当前需求和进展。我们强调了各种治疗方式。抗真菌药物的递送系统、基于聚合物固有抗真菌活性的系统和光动力疗法都遵循各自的机制和独特的设计线索。我们还讨论了各种预防策略，包括免疫和抗真菌医疗器械，并进一步描述了即时检测平台作为未来的诊断和监测工具。基于聚合物的策略在公共和个人健康管理中的广泛应用是有前景的，集成系统已成为一个有前途的方向。然而，实验研究与临床转化之间存在差距。未来，应进行精心设计的试验，以揭示潜在机制，并探索基于聚合物的产品的疗效和生物安全性。
