Macrophage targeted amphotericin B nanodelivery systems against visceral leishmaniasis

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a potentially fatal systemic disease caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum, transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. This VL is characterized by an uneven spell of fever, substantial weight loss, liver and spleen swelling, and anemia. The presently available therapies for VL are based on pentavalent antimony and amphotericin B (AmB) formulations. The failure of the first treatment is due to its probability to form resistance followed by non-specific toxic manifestations leading to the popularity of the later one. The available different conventional formulations of AmB show substantially diverse pharmacokinetic parameters, and thus susceptible to dose-related toxicities, such as infusion-associated reactions and nephrotoxicity. The present review emphasizes various passive and active targeting approaches of AmB, along with the importance of macrophage-targeted delivery systems over the commercial liposomal and colloidal formulations.