Use of nanotechnology in antimicrobial therapy

Nanotechnology has emerged as a tool for developing advanced therapies to control and combat infections. Antibiotic resistance and side effects are the latest challenges for development and application of available antimicrobials. Biocompatible nanomaterials confer potential strategies for preventing drug-resistance in microbes, basically by improving the therapeutic effect of current antimicrobial drugs. Nanotechnology-based carriers referred to as nanovehicles (NVs), have unique physicochemical properties such as ultra-small and controllable size, large surface area to volume ratio, high reactivity, and functionalize structure. The antimicrobial nanovehicles can facilitate and specifically target the antimicrobial drugs, thereby overcoming the above limitations of conventional antimicrobial therapy. In this book chapter, we describe the limitations of current antimicrobial therapy, advances in the delivery of antimicrobial drugs using nanovehicles and clinically approved nanomedicines for the treatment of microbial infections.