Anti-leishmanial Nanotherapeutics: A Current Perspective.

Leishmaniasis is a dreaded disease caused by protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania which results in significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are no vaccines available currently for the treatment of Leishmaniasis and chemotherapy still remains the mainstay for anti-leishmanial therapeutics. However, toxicity, reduced bioavailability, high cost and chemoresistance are the principal problems which limit the use of the available drugs. In this context, anti-leishmanial nanotherapeutics may show the way for effective treatment of this dreaded disease. In this review, we discuss the current status of the application of nanotechnology in drug delivery, drug development and vaccine delivery for anti-leishmanial therapeutics. Application of nano for anti-leishmanial therapeutics is expected to aid the targeted delivery of different drugs which is expected to increase the bioavailability, reduce toxicity and also address the problem of chemoresistance. We surmise that though it is a long path to be traversed towards the direction of anti-leishmanial nanotherapeutics, exciting research in this field is already showing the promise for effective applicability of nanotherapeutics in the treatment of Leishmaniasis.