Nanoemulsions as Drug Carriers to Combat AMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an important health issue around the world. The substantial increase in AMR has severely restricted the existing conventional therapeutic options for multiple-drug-resistance pathogens. However, with the recent scientific revolution, novel antibiotics have been introduced to effectively combat pathogenic germs. Among these, nanoemulsions have attracted researchers due to their high stability, ease of synthesis, and enhanced adsorption rate. Nanoemulsions are thermodynamically stable colloidal dispersion framework composed of two relatively immiscible liquids mixed with emulsifying agents to achieve a single phase with average droplet size between 50 and 1000 nm. Because of the small size, it can easily permeate the biological membrane which enhances the therapeutic efficiency of drug molecules. Reduction in size of the droplets (10 to 100 nm) of the nanoemulsions significantly enhances their activity. The utilization of natural products including essential oil derived from plants ignited the interest of the pharmaceutical and food industries, owing to the possibility of minimal toxicities and the existence of a wide range of medicinal characteristics. In this article, we will provide a brief introduction to nanoemulsions along with their activity as antibacterial drug carriers. We will further discuss different types, advantages, disadvantages, and recent developments of nanoemulsions.