Hydrogel-Based Nanoparticles Drug Delivery Systems for Antifungal Therapy: A Smart Approach to Targeted Treatment

Abstract

Fungal infections remain a serious global health concern, ranging from superficial mycoses to invasive systemic diseases with high morbidity and mortality. Despite the availability of antifungal drugs, therapeutic outcomes are often compromised by poor solubility, limited bioavailability, systemic toxicity, and emerging drug resistance. To address these challenges, nanotechnology and biomaterial sciences have introduced hydrogel-based nanoparticle systems as advanced drug delivery platforms. These hybrid systems integrate the biocompatibility, high-water retention, and stimuli responsiveness of hydrogels with the protective encapsulation, targeting, and controlled release capabilities of nanoparticles. Such delivery systems enhance antifungal efficacy by enabling site-specific and sustained drug release, reducing systemic side effects, and overcoming fungal resistance mechanisms. This review consolidates recent progress in the design and application of hydrogel–nanoparticle composites for antifungal therapy, highlighting their mechanisms, therapeutic advantages, case studies, limitations, and future perspectives. By bridging conventional antifungal pharmacology with smart biomaterials, hydrogel-based nanoparticles represent a transformative strategy in combating fungal infections.