Hyderabad IITians Develop New Drug Delivery System To Treat Fungal Infections

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, has developed a new drug delivery system to treat fungal infections. This method, which is based on essential oils, can also reduce the risk of inducing drug resistance in the fungus and it can also counter those fungi that have developed resistance to conventional antifungal drugs.

Research Team

The research was led by Dr Mudrika Khandelwal, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, and supported with funds by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Grants from the American multinational conglomerate AT&T.

The Research Paper, co-authored with her PhD Student Shivakalyani Adepu, was published in the international peer-reviewed journal Materialia.

Why the need for New Drug Delivery System

Highlighting the need for developing alternate, non-resistance inducing treatment options for fungal diseases, Dr Mudrika Khandelwal said, “Given the prevalence of fungal infections such as vaginal infections, diaper rash, athlete’s foot, and nail fungus, caused by the Candida family of fungi, drug resistance can become life-threatening.”

Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi have a remarkable capacity to evolve resistance to antimicrobial agents used to destroy them.

The IIT Hyderabad team turned to natural products to solve this problem. The idea of using carriers for controlled release of drugs has been around and various types of carriers including polymeric microcapsules, nano emulsions/colloids and hydrogels have been developed for various drugs.

With the results of this work, the researchers are developing prototype antifungal hygiene products with the financial support from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower emerging Biotech enterprises.

“Currently we are developing antifungal panty liners for mitigating vaginal candidiasis. The developed formulation can also be used as a transdermal patch /mucoadhesive patch to treat skin and mucocutaneous infections without inducing resistance in the fungal species,” said Dr Khandelwal.