Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease treatable and curable, however, the chemotherapeutic agents for their treatment are limited. In South American countries, pentavalent antimonials are still the first line of treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis with an efficacy of about 75%, but the toxicity of the drug causes serious side effects and remains as the main obstacle for treatment. New knowledge aimed to improve drug delivery into the intracellular environment is essential, especially for drugs currently used in the clinic, to develop new anti-Leishmania formulations. In the present study, we analyzed the scientific literature to highlight the progress achieved in the last decade regarding the use of nanotechnology for improving the current leishmaniasis treatments. Results allowed us to conclude that the encapsulated Glucantime liposomal formulation can be improved by means of nanoparticle functionalization processes, resulting in new drug delivery systems that can be potentially proposed as alternative therapies for leishmaniasis treatment.

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脂质体纳米制剂在抗利什曼病治疗中的应用：挑战和前景

利什曼病是一种可治疗和可治愈的寄生虫病，然而，用于其治疗的化学治疗剂是有限的。在南美国家，五价锑剂仍是皮肤利什曼病的一线治疗药物，有效率约为75%，但该药的毒性引起严重的副作用，仍是治疗的主要障碍。旨在改善药物输送到细胞内环境的新知识对于开发新的抗利什曼原虫制剂至关重要，特别是对于目前临床使用的药物。在本研究中，我们分析了科学文献，重点介绍了过去十年在使用纳米技术改进当前利什曼病治疗方面取得的进展。