The poor penetration of anti-fungal agents into the cornea through the intact epithelium layer makes it difficult to treat acute fungal corneal infections. Herein, we developed Amphotret (amphotericin B) antifungal drug contained polycaprolactone-Fe3O4 (PCL-FO) magnetic nanofibers (MNFs) using the electrospinning technique. These MNFs generate heat in the presence of AC magnetic field (AMF) and release drug upon heating. MNFs were compatible with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and HeLa cells, which exhibited unaltered proliferation, ruling out any toxicity from the systems. Hyperthermia induced via MNFs from 42 °C to 50 °C compromised the viability of Candida albicans cells. Further, the efficacy of the systems was increased in the presence of both heat and drug simultaneously in vitro, leading to near 100% loss in viability of C. albicans cells at 50 °C with simultaneous drug release from MNFs. Thus, we propose magnetic hyperthermia as adjunctive therapy for fungal keratitis.
Keywords: Fungal corneal infection; amphotericin B; electrospinning; hyperthermia; magnetic nanofibers.