{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T09:01:43Z","timestamp":1769158903157,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]],"date-time":"2023-04-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1680739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Given the opportunity and access, pathogenic protists (Balamuthia mandrillaris and Naegleria fowleri) can produce fatal infections involving the central nervous system. In the absence of effective treatments, there is a need to either develop new antimicrobials or enhance the efficacy of existing compounds. Nanocarriers as drug delivery systems are gaining increasing attention in the treatment of parasitic infections. In this study, novel nanocarriers conjugated with amphotericin B and curcumin were evaluated for anti-amoebic efficacy against B. mandrillaris and N. fowleri. The results showed that nanocarrier conjugated amphotericin B exhibited enhanced cidal properties against both amoebae tested compared with the drug alone. Similarly, nanocarrier conjugated curcumin exhibited up to 75% cidal effects versus approx. 50% cidal effects for curcumin alone. Cytopathogenicity assays revealed that the pre-treatment of both parasites with nanoformulated-drugs reduced parasite-mediated host cellular death compared with the drugs alone. Importantly, the cytotoxic effects of amphotericin B on human cells alone were reduced when conjugated with nanocarriers. These are promising findings and further suggest the need to explore nanocarriers as a means to deliver medicine against parasitic infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases11020058","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]],"date-time":"2023-04-06T01:10:27Z","timestamp":1680743427000},"page":"58","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Nanocarrier Drug Conjugates Exhibit Potent Anti-Naegleria fowleri and Anti-Balamuthia mandrillaris Properties"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9646-6208","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ruqaiyyah","family":"Siddiqui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Istinye University, Istanbul 34010, Turkey"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anania","family":"Boghossian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Arts and Sciences, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah 26666, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Kawish","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tooba","family":"Jabri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Muhammad Raza","family":"Shah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6860-495X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tengku Shahrul","family":"Anuar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Medical Laboratory Technology Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, PuncakAlam Campus, Selangor 42300, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zainab","family":"Al-Shareef","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7667-8553","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Naveed Ahmed","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Istinye University, Istanbul 34010, Turkey"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"524","DOI":"10.1080\/21691401.2018.1561457","article-title":"In vitro and in vivo characterization of pharmaceutical nanocarriers used for drug delivery","volume":"47","author":"Jain","year":"2019","journal-title":"Artif. 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