Over the last years, invasive infections caused by filamentous fungi have constituted a serious threat to public health worldwide. Aspergillus, Coccidioides, Mucorales (the most common filamentous fungi), and Candida auris (non-filamentous fungus) can cause infections in humans. They are able to cause critical life-threatening illnesses in immunosuppressed individuals, patients with HIV/AIDS, uncontrolled diabetes, hematological diseases, transplantation, and chemotherapy. In this review, we describe the available nanoformulations (both metallic and polymers-based nanoparticles) developed to increase efficacy and reduce the number of adverse effects after the administration of conventional antifungals. To treat aspergillosis and infections caused by Candida, multiple strategies have been used to develop new therapeutic alternatives, such as incorporating coating materials, complexes synthesized by green chemistry, or coupled with polymers. However, the therapeutic options for coccidioidomycosis and mucormycosis are limited; most of them are in the early stages of development. Therefore, more research needs to be performed to develop new therapeutic alternatives that contribute to the progress of this field.

Background/Objectives: Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria poses a critical global health threat, with multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains increasingly undermining conventional treatments. Among these, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a high-priority pathogen due to its resistance to carbapenems and frequent presence in hospital settings, contributing to severe healthcare-associated infections. This study aimed to isolate and characterize novel bacteriophages from environmental wastewater samples that could specifically target MDR P. aeruginosa. Methods: Two bacteriophages, M8-2 and M8-3, were isolated from wastewater in Monterrey, Mexico. A genomic analysis classified M8-2 and M8-3 within the Caudoviridae family, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to confirm the absence of undesirable antibiotic resistance or virulence genes. Optimization of viral amplification was performed to achieve high titers, with structural proteins characterized by SDS-PAGE. Results: Phages M8-2 and M8-3 exhibited specific lytic activity against MDR strains of P. aeruginosa, offering a targeted approach to combat antibiotic-resistant infections. High genetic similarity (>95%) to known Gram-negative bacterial phages was observed. Optimized viral amplification yielded titers of 4.2 × 10⁷ and 1.03 × 10⁹ PFUs/mL for M8-2 and M8-3, respectively. The specificity of these phages minimized disruption to the host microbiome, and their significant efficacy in suppressing bacterial growth positions bacteriophages as promising candidates for localized and personalized phage therapy, especially in chronic and hospital-acquired infection settings. Conclusions: These findings highlight the therapeutic potential of M8-2 and M8-3 in addressing antibiotic-resistant P. aeruginosa infections. Their safety profile, high target specificity, and robust lytic activity underscore the feasibility of incorporating phage-based strategies into current antimicrobial protocols. This study contributes to the broader goal of developing sustainable and effective phage therapies for diverse clinical and environmental contexts.

This research presents a novel, sustainable, and eco-friendly method for the rapid green synthesis of nanoparticles with antibacterial properties. This method employs steam distillation to extract reducing and stabilizing agents from orange peel waste, followed by ultrasound-assisted synthesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported integration of these two techniques for nanoparticle production. The extracted materials were then subjected to rigorous characterization through a combination of analytical techniques, including FTIR, HPLC, and TEM. These analytical approaches enabled a comprehensive analysis of the synthesized NPs, revealing their size distribution within the range of 1.5 to 14 nm. Among the synthesized nanomaterials, AgNPs exhibited the most potent antibacterial activity, with statistically significant minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 16 ppm for E. coli ATCC and 32 ppm for resistant E. coli and E. faecalis strains. This study underscored the promise of valorizing citrus waste for nanomaterial synthesis and introduced a novel, scalable methodology for producing bioactive nanoparticles, promoting a more sustainable technology for this purpose. Notably, this research aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12, which promotes responsible consumption and production by transforming organic waste into high-value functional nanomaterials for biomedical and environmental applications.

Background: Candida albicans is the most clinically significant opportunistic fungal pathogen, and the growing resistance to conventional antifungals, particularly azoles and echinocandins, highlights the urgent need for alternative therapeutic strategies. Although lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have shown inhibitory potential against C. albicans, the relative contributions of live probiotics, heat-inactivated postbiotics, and cell-free supernatants (CFSs) have rarely been compared in parallel under physiologically relevant conditions against a clinical oral isolate. Results: This study systematically evaluated the antifungal activity of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299V, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus ATCC 11842, and Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 using co-culture assays, minimum inhibitory concentration tests, agar well diffusion assays, and optical microscopy. L. plantarum achieved the strongest inhibitory effect in co-culture, reducing C. albicans viability by 2.39 log₁₀ CFU/mL after 24 h, correlating with the greatest acidification of the culture medium. Methods: CFS from L. acidophilus inhibited fungal growth by 79.01% at native pH, declining to 28.35% upon neutralization to pH 7, confirming that antifungal efficacy is largely pH-dependent and driven by undissociated organic acids. At probiotic concentrations of 1 × 10⁹ CFU/mL, all strains completely suppressed fungal growth. Heat-inactivated postbiotics exhibited up to 95.14% inhibition in MIC assays; however, microscopic analysis revealed coaggregation between postbiotic and fungal cells, which likely interfered with optical density measurements. Conclusions: These findings establish that LAB-mediated antifungal activity is multifactorial and assay-dependent, and highlight the importance of distinguishing between probiotic, postbiotic, and CFS effects when developing LAB-based antifungal strategies.