Opportunistic fungal infections are responsible for over 1.5 million deaths per year.\nThis has created a need for highly effective antifungal medication to be as potent as possible. In this\nstudy, we improved the effcacy of a common over the counter (OTC) antifungal skin medication,\nmiconazole, by encapsulating nano-molecules of the drug in cholesterol/sodium oleate nano-vesicles.\nThese nano-vesicles were characterized to optimize their size, zeta potential, polydispersity index\nand encapsulation effciency. Furthermore, these nano-vesicles were compared to a conventional\nmiconazole-based commercially available cream to determine potential improvements via permeation\nthrough the stratum corneum, cytotoxicity, and antifungal capabilities. Our results found that the\nvesicle size was within the nano range (~300 nm), with moderate polydispersity and stability.\nWhen compared with the commercially available cream, Actavis, as well as free miconazole,\nthe miconazole nano-vesicle formulation displayed enhanced fungal inhibition by a factor of three\nor more when compared to free miconazole. Furthermore, with smaller nanoparticle (NP) sizes,\nhigher percentages of miconazole may be delivered, further enhancing the effcacy of miconazoleâ??s\nantifungal capability. Cytotoxicity studies conducted with human dermal fibroblast cells confirm its\nbiosafety and biocompatibility, as cell survival rate was observed to be twofold higher in nano-vesicle\nformulation than free miconazole. This formulation has the potential to treat fungal infections through\nincreasing the retention time in the skin, improving the treatment approach, and by enhancing the\necacy via the use of nano-vesicles.
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