Developing effective amphotericin B delivery systems for fungal infections

Abstract This chapter presents an update on amphotericin B (AmB) delivery systems for fungal infections. Fungal infection has augmented around the world and the number of death thereof has increased drastically. Research on new AmB delivery approaches focused on developing routes that can encapsulate AmB in its monomeric form which consequently exhibits decreased toxicity. Several methodologies for preparation of AmB delivery systems are discussed such as nanoprecipitation, solvent evaporation method, solvent diffusion method, Pickering emulsion, dialyses, lipid-based emulsification, ionic gelation, and preparation of prodrug systems by conjugation of amphotericin B and Silver-AmB complexes. Antifungal and hemolytic activities, toxicity, and different matrices for AmB loading (synthetic polymer, polysaccharide, lipid-based, metal) are presented. Comparison of data with commercial available AmB formulation is also carried out.