Human Fungal Pathogens and Drug Resistance Against Azole Drugs

Abstract

Pathogenic fungi causing severe infections in humans with immunocompromised immune system have been the major reasons of deaths in the world. Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus are among the most prevalent human fungal pathogens. The most widely used therapy used for the invasive fungal infections is the treatment with azole antifungal drugs; however, drug resistance against azole drugs is a major limitation in treatment of fungal infections. High-throughput techniques such as genomics and proteomics have been applied to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in drug resistance against azole drugs in human pathogenic fungi. These studies could be useful to prevent the increase in drug resistance and better response to antifungals. Here, we focus on the incidences of drug resistance against azole antifungal drugs in human fungal pathogens, molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, and new strategies for combating drug resistance to improve clinical treatment of invasive fungal infections.