Abstract

ENGINEERING TERBINAFINE-LOADED NANOSPONGES FOR NEXT-GENERATION ANTIFUNGAL DRUG DELIVERY: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Thurupu Sowmya*, Dr. Shoaeb Mohammad Syed

Abstract

Fungal infections persist as a major health challenge worldwide with a significant portion of the affected population being those whose immunity is compromised and patients suffering from skin diseases. On the other hand, although various antifungal agents are already in the market, the therapy really is hard to handle due to drug solubility being poor, bioavailability being limited, systemic toxicity being high, and patient compliance being low in conventional dosage forms. Terbinafine, which is a commonly prescribed allylamine antifungal agent, has strong but not limited to a particular group of dermatophytes due to its fungicidal activity; however, the biopharmaceutical limitations like low aqueous solubility and variable absorption do not allow its full therapeutic efficacy. The use of nanotechnologybased drug delivery systems has become the most recent strategy to tackle these challenges. To mention one, nanosponges have turned into hot topics because of their resounding porous structure, large drug-loading capacity, release regulation and stability. Nanosponges not only overcome the poor solubility, low rate of dissolution and sporadic delivery of lipophilic drugs like terbinafine but also increase antifungal efficacy and decrease side effects at the same time. This all-encompassing review not only assesses the function of nanosponges as an advanced drug delivery medium for terbinafine critically, but also reveals the particulars of their structure, mechanisms of drug incorporation, release characteristics, and applications in antifungal therapy. Furthermore, the review addresses formulation aspects, evaluation criteria, and future perspectives while at the same time inferring the translational capability of terbinafine-loaded nanosponge systems for the forthcoming generation of antifungal treatment.

Keywords: Terbinafine, Nanosponges, Antifungal therapy, Drug delivery systems, Nanotechnology, Controlled release.