Nanotechnology-Enabled Strategies to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance in Respiratory Infections: Mechanisms, Platforms, and Translational Challenges

Nanomedicine for biofilm associated infections: opportunities, challenges, and clinical translation

Nanomedicine against antimicrobial resistance: mechanistic insights and next-generation therapeutic potential

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the most critical global health threats, severely limiting the effectiveness of existing therapies against bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogens is largely driven by rapid genetic evolution, which promotes multiple resistance mechanisms such as drug degradation, target-site alteration, reduced intracellular drug accumulation, and biofilm formation, leading to persistent infections and rising mortality. These challenges highlight the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies beyond conventional antimicrobials. Nanomedicine has gained considerable attention due to its unique physicochemical properties, enabling improved drug stability, targeted delivery, controlled release, enhanced pathogen penetration, and multimodal antimicrobial action. This review comprehensively examines resistance mechanisms across major microbial pathogens and discusses the evolution of nanomedicine as an advanced platform for combating AMR. Particular emphasis is placed on green biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles using biological resources, offering environmentally sustainable and biocompatible antimicrobial nanomaterials. The synergistic interactions between nanomaterials and conventional antimicrobial agents that enhance therapeutic efficacy and restore susceptibility in resistant pathogens. Emerging next-generation antimicrobial nanomedicine platforms, including biomimetic nanoparticles, antimicrobial peptide delivery systems, CRISPR-enabled nanocarriers, and stimuli-responsive systems, are also highlighted for their potential in precision infection management. Finally, key challenges involving toxicity, biosafety, microbiome disruption, environmental impact, manufacturing scalability, regulatory and clinical translation. Addressing these barriers will be essential for advancing safe and effective nanomedicine-based solutions against AMR.

Nanotechnology-Based Strategies against Antimicrobial Resistance: Current Status and Future Prospects

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a rapidly escalating global health crisis that threatens the effective treatment of infectious diseases. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, coupled with the declining discovery of new antibiotics, has necessitated the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising approach owing to its unique physicochemical properties, enabling targeted drug delivery, improved antimicrobial efficacy, enhanced biofilm penetration, and reduced systemic toxicity. This review aims to summarize recent advances in nanotechnology-based strategies for combating AMR, highlighting the mechanisms of action, therapeutic applications, current research progress, and future translational prospects. A comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles published in recent years. Studies focusing on nanoparticle-based antimicrobial therapies, drug delivery systems, biofilm-targeting approaches, and clinical advancements were critically evaluated. Various nanoplatforms, including metallic, polymeric, lipid-based, and carbon-based nanoparticles, have demonstrated significant potential in overcoming conventional resistance mechanisms through targeted drug delivery, membrane disruption, reactive oxygen species generation, and controlled drug release. Additionally, nanotechnology enhances antibiotic stability, improves intracellular drug accumulation, and facilitates combination therapies. Despite promising preclinical outcomes, challenges related to toxicity, large-scale manufacturing, regulatory approval, and long-term safety remain barriers to clinical translation. Nanotechnology offers a transformative strategy to address antimicrobial resistance by improving therapeutic efficacy and minimizing resistance development. Continued interdisciplinary research, standardized safety evaluations, and well-designed clinical studies are essential to accelerate the successful clinical implementation of nano-enabled antimicrobial therapies. Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Nanomedicine; Nanoparticle-based drug delivery; Biofilm inhibition; Precision antimicrobial therapy.

Nanoparticles Against Antimicrobial Resistance: Chemical Design, Assembly, and Emerging Applications

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health concern, with increasing rates of morbidity and mortality associated with multidrug-resistant infections worldwide. Despite intensive efforts to discover antimicrobial compounds, few candidates progress to clinical trials, and even fewer achieve market approval. A promising approach to address the current stagnation in antibiotic discovery is the development of advanced antimicrobial delivery platforms, which can enhance the efficacy, stability, and reusability of both existing and engineered antimicrobial agents. In this review, we provide an overview of the literature on the preclinical and clinical development of antimicrobial agents, as well as the integration of both existing and emerging agents into advanced delivery systems. These include inorganic nanoparticles (e.g., metal- and silicon-based) as well as (supramolecular) organic nanoparticles such as polymeric micelles, dendrimers, vesicles, polyelectrolyte complexes, hydrogels, lipid micelles, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, emulsions, and hybrid formulations, among others. Using a soft matter science perspective, we discuss these nanoparticle scaffolds as platforms for incorporating antimicrobial compounds via encapsulation, conjugation, adsorption, entrapment, self-assembly, co-assembly, or driven-assembly strategies. While many of these delivery systems show substantial promise, key challenges, including technical limitations, toxicity, and immunogenicity, must be addressed before clinical translation. By reviewing recent advances and innovations, we highlight how nanotechnology-enabled delivery systems can overcome challenges posed by AMR and potentially shape the future of antimicrobial therapies.

Metal nanoparticles as next-generation therapeutics against antimicrobial resistance: mechanisms, functionalization, and translational potential

Nanodrug Delivery Systems for Lower Respiratory Infections: Pulmonary Targeting, Anti-Infective Applications, and Translational Challenges

Abstract Lower respiratory infections (LRIs) remain a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly. Although conventional antimicrobial therapies remain central to clinical management, their efficacy is often limited by poor pulmonary bioavailability, systemic toxicity, inadequate penetration of mucus or biofilms, and the rapid emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. Nanodrug delivery systems (NDDS) provide a promising strategy to address these limitations by improving pulmonary deposition, protecting labile therapeutics, enabling controlled release, and supporting disease-site targeting. In this review, we systematically summarize recent advances in NDDS for LRIs, with emphasis on the design principles and functional characteristics of lipid-based, polymeric, inorganic, and hybrid nanocarriers. We further connect these platforms with disease-specific therapeutic challenges in bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, viral infections, and fungal pneumonia, highlighting how carrier composition, surface engineering, and release behavior can be adapted to mucus barriers, biofilms, intracellular pathogen niches, and inflammatory microenvironments. Importantly, we discuss emerging trends, including bioinspired nanocarriers, stimuli-responsive systems, and multifunctional theranostic platforms, while also evaluating key translational barriers such as biosafety, immunogenicity, reproducible manufacturing, and regulatory standardization.