Recent insights on nanomedicine for augmented infection control

Sima Singh,1,* Afzal Hussain,1,* Faiyaz Shakeel,2,* Mohamed Jawed Ahsan,3 Sultan Alshehri,2 Thomas J Webster,4,* Uma Ranjan Lal5 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi 835215, Jharkhand, India; 2Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Maharishi Arvind College of Pharmacy, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302023, India; 4Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; 5School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan 173229, Himacahal Pradesh, India *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Antimicrobial agents have been widely investigated for protecting against microbial infections in modern health. Drug-related limitations, poor bioavailability, toxicity to mammalian cells, and frequent bacteria drug resistance are major challenges faced when exploited in nanomedicine forms. Specific attention has been paid to control nanomaterial-based infection against numerous challenging pathogens in addition to improved drug delivery, targeting, and pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles, and thus, efficient antimicrobials have been fabricated using diverse components (metals, metal oxides, synthetic and semisynthetic polymers, natural or biodegradable polymers, etc). The present review covers several nanocarriers delivered through various routes of administration, highlighting major findings to control microbial infection as compared to using the free drug. Results over the past decade support the consistent development of various nanomedicines capable of improving biological significance and therapeutic benefits against an array of microbial strains. Depending on the intended application of nanomedicine, infection control will be challenged by various factors such as weighing the risk–benefits in healthcare settings, nanomaterial-induced (eco)toxicological hazards, frequent development of antibiotic resistance, scarcity of in vivo toxicity data, and a poor understanding of microbial interactions with nanomedicine at the molecular level. This review summarizes well-established informative data for nanomaterials used for infection control and safety concerns of nanomedicines to healthcare sectors followed by the significance of a unique “safe-by-design” approach. Keywords: recent nanomedicines, infection control, antimicrobial agents, drug delivery, biosafet