{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T23:35:47Z","timestamp":1781307347017,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,27]],"date-time":"2019-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1564185600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Among different Candida species triggering vaginal candidiasis, Candida albicans is the most predominant yeast. It is commonly treated using azole drugs such as Tioconazole (TIO) and Econazole (ECO). However, their low water solubility may affect their therapeutic efficiency. Therefore, the aim of this research was to produce a novel chitosan nanocapsule based delivery system comprising of TIO or ECO and to study their suitability in vaginal application. These systems were characterized by their physicochemical properties, encapsulation efficiency, in vitro release, storage stability, cytotoxicity, and in vitro biological activity. Both nanocapsules loaded with TIO (average hydrodynamic size of 146.8 \u00b1 0.8 nm, zeta potential of +24.7 \u00b1 1.1 mV) or ECO (average hydrodynamic size of 127.1 \u00b1 1.5 nm, zeta potential of +33.0 \u00b1 1.0 mV) showed excellent association efficiency (99% for TIO and 87% for ECO). The analysis of size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential of the systems at 4, 25, and 37 \u00b0C (over a period of two months) showed the stability of the systems. Finally, the developed nanosystems presented fungicidal activity against C. albicans at non-toxic concentrations (studied on model human skin cells). The results obtained from this study are the first step in the development of a pharmaceutical dosage form suitable for the treatment of vaginal candidiasis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms20153686","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,29]],"date-time":"2019-07-29T03:06:58Z","timestamp":1564369618000},"page":"3686","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["Design and Characterization of Chitosan Nanoformulations for the Delivery of Antifungal Agents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Natalia L.","family":"Calvo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Qu\u00edmica Rosario (IQUIR, CONICET-UNR), Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"},{"name":"\u00c1rea An\u00e1lisis de Medicamentos, Facultad de Ciencias Bioqu\u00edmicas y Farmac\u00e9uticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sruthi","family":"Sreekumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Biology and Biotechnology of Plants (IBBP), Westf\u00e4lische Wilhelms-Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnster, Schlossplatz 8, 48143 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura A.","family":"Svetaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c1rea Farmacognosia, Facultad de Ciencias Bioqu\u00edmicas y Farmac\u00e9uticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda C.","family":"Lamas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Qu\u00edmica Rosario (IQUIR, CONICET-UNR), Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"},{"name":"\u00c1rea T\u00e9cnica Farmac\u00e9utica, Facultad de Ciencias Bioqu\u00edmicas y Farmac\u00e9uticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6067-3205","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruno M.","family":"Moerschbacher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Biology and Biotechnology of Plants (IBBP), Westf\u00e4lische Wilhelms-Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnster, Schlossplatz 8, 48143 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dar\u00edo","family":"Leonardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Qu\u00edmica Rosario (IQUIR, CONICET-UNR), Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"},{"name":"\u00c1rea T\u00e9cnica Farmac\u00e9utica, Facultad de Ciencias Bioqu\u00edmicas y Farmac\u00e9uticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Suipacha 531, Rosario S2002LRK, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1075","DOI":"10.1128\/EC.00034-10","article-title":"Adaptations of Candida albicans for Growth in the Mammalian Intestinal Tract","volume":"9","author":"Rosenbach","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eukaryot. 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